Abstract
Ten 2-(4-acetamidophenylimino)-5-arylidenethiazolidin-4-one derivatives 6a-k were synthesized and evaluated for their anticancer activity against MCF-7 cell line (breast adenocarcinoma). The synthetic approach involves cyclocondensation of N,N '-bis(4-acetamidophenyl)-thiourea (3) with ethyl bromoacetate in ethanol and sodium acetate to furnish the 2-(4-acetamidophenylimino)-4-thiazolidinone derivative 4, which underwent Knoevenagel condensation reaction with some substituted aldehydes to afford the targeted 2-(4-acetamidophenylimino)-5-arylidenethiazolidin-4-ones 6a-k. The 4-chlorobenzylidene-thiazolidin-4-one compound 6h exhibited strong inhibitory effect on the growth of breast cancer cell with IC50 (58.33 +/- 1.74 mu M), very close to that of the reference drug doxorubicin (IC50 48.06 +/- 0.36 mu M).