An efficient synthesis, anticancer and antimycobacterial activities of new substituted pyridine based azomethine derivatives

Pyridine, a fundamental heterocyclic scaffold, is a key structural component in numerous biologically active molecules, including alkaloids, vitamins B3 and B6, coenzymes, and other natural products. Its significance in medicinal chemistry arises from its versatile physicochemical properties, such as its capacity to form hydrogen bonds, its high water solubility, and its chemical stability. In this study, a series of substituted pyridine-based analogues (3a-h) were synthesized and their structural elucidation was performed using various spectroscopic techniques. These derivatives incorporate an azomethine functionality within the pyridine core. The structural characterization of the newly synthesized compounds was achieved through spectroscopic analyses, including mass spectrometry, 1H NMR, 13C NMR, infrared (IR) spectroscopy, and complementary analytical methods such as solubility and melting point determination. The biological evaluation of the derivatives 3a-h was carried out to assess their in vitro cytotoxic activity against the human colon cancer cell line HCT-15 and the breast cancer cell line MCF-7 using the sulforhodamine B (SRB) assay. The results indicated that the synthesized compounds exhibited an anticancer activity ranging from moderate to promising. Furthermore, the compounds were subjected to preliminary antituberculosis (anti-TB) screening against Mycobacterium bovis, a representative strain of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, at varying concentrations.