Synthesis, characterisation of new derivatives with mono ring system of 1,2,4-triazole scaffold and their anticancer activities

In the present study, two important starting materials and 18 new 1,2,4-triazole compounds with mono ring system have been synthesized and characterized. The mono system showed 16 compounds of a Schiff base moiety attached to the triazole ring which was prepared from the corresponding starting material 5(A–B) or piperidinium salt system 6(A–B). All these compounds were characterized using Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and carbon hydrogen nitrogen (CHN) elemental analysis. The compounds were selected for in vitro anticancer study to test the therapeutic cytotoxic potential against cancer cells. The MTT test was conducted against human breast (MCF-7) and colorectal (HCT-116) cancer cells. Among all the compounds tested, 7A-i demonstrated more pronounced in vitro anticancer effect against MCF-7 and HCT-116 cells with IC₅₀ of 38 and 19.2 μM, respectively, comparable to that of the standard reference drugs, tamoxifen and 5-fluorouracil, respectively. Compound 7A-vi showed a considerable cytotoxic effect with IC₅₀ 53 and 41.2 μM against MCF-7 and HCT-116 cells, respectively. Compounds 7A-ii, 7A-iii and 7A-v exhibited moderate cytotoxicity with IC₅₀ 68, 91 and 85 μM, respectively against MCF-7 cells and also 59.3, 81.7 and 137.1 μM against HCT-116 cells, respectively. However, all other compounds tested in this study showed poor cytotoxicity against both the cell lines. Cellular morphological analysis revealed that the cytotoxicity induced by the compounds could probably due to autophagy. It can be concluded that 1,2,4-triazole derivatives can be promising therapeutic agents. Further studies will be done to investigate the antitumor efficacy of the 1,2,4-triazole derivatives using suitable preclinical models.