Synthesis, in silico analysis, anticancer activity and photophysical properties of novel benzisoxazoles

• Synthesis and characterization of a new series of benzisoxazoles using FT-IR 1 HNMR, 13 CNMR, and Mass spectral techniques. • Molecular docking and MD simulation studies of benzisoxazoles. • Anticancer activity of benzisoxazoles against MCF-7 and HEPG2 cell lines. • The UV–Visible spectroscopy, photoluminescence spectroscopy, and quantum efficiency studies of the compounds. This work investigates the synthesis, in silico properties, photophysical characteristics, and evaluation of a new class of benzisoxazoles as potential anticancer drugs. Six benzisoxazoles were synthesized in three steps and are characterized by FTIR, 1 H NMR, 13 C NMR, and mass spectrometry. In silico analysis provides information about the different types of interactions of ligands with protein (PDB: 1Y6A), stability of ligand-protein interactions, and pharmacokinetic properties of ligands. All the synthesized compounds were screened for anticancer activity against MCF-7 and HepG2 cell lines. Among the tested compounds, 5c showed a significant IC 50 value of 12.19 μM against the MCF-7 cell line. The optical properties of compounds 5b and 5e are studied using UV–Visible and photoluminescence spectroscopy. The results obtained suggest that structural modifications to benzisoxazoles could lead to the development of more effective anticancer agents in the future.