Synthesis and biological evaluation of dehydroepiandrosterone-fused thiazole, imidazo[2,1-b]thiazole, pyridine steroidal analogues

•Steroidal dehydroepiandrosterone D-ring-fused heterocycles were synthesized.•Anticancer activities in vitro against EC109, EC9706 and MGC-803 cell lines were evaluated.•We found several compounds possess good cytotoxicity against EC109 and MGC-803.•We summarized the primary structure–activity relationships.

A series of steroidal[17,16-d]thiazole, steroidal[1,2-b]pyridine and steroidal[17,16-d]thiazole[2,1-b]imidazo products were synthesized through a convenient and productive method. Anti-proliferation activity against EC109 (human esophageal carcinoma), EC9706 (human esophageal carcinoma) and MGC-803 (human gastric carcinoma) cell lines was examined in vitro. Among the screened compounds, several highly potential compounds were located.

Graphical abstractFigure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide