Green synthesis and anticancer evaluation of novel bis-(trifluoromethyl-5-phenyl-1,3,4-oxadiazol-2-yl) methyl)-1,8-naphthyridine scaffolds

Eco-friendly construction of a 3-(3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl)-1-((5-phenyl-1,3,4-oxadiazol-2-yl) methyl)-1,8-naphthyridin-2(1H)-one derivatives (<b>10a–j</b>) under microwave method furnished excellent yields in minimal time with maximum selectivity in the presence of PhI(OAc)₂. This route aligns with the principles of green chemistry due to its significantly reduced reaction time and enriched energy efficiency, simplicity, and high yields. The synthesized compounds were characterized by spectroscopic ­techniques IR,¹H NMR,¹³C NMR, Mass spectrometry, and elemental analysis studies. All the synthesized compounds cytotoxicity was tested against four cancer cell lines, MCF-7, Colo-205, A549, and SiHa human Cervix cancer cell lines; all the compounds demonstrated remarkable <i>in vitro</i> anticancer activity, notably, among them, compound 10i exhibited the most potent anti-cancer activity of IC₅₀ valves are 11.21 ± 0.17 μM (MCF-7 breast cancer cell line), 11.62 ± 0.54 μM (Colo-205 colon cancer cell line), 17.85 ± 0.48 μM (A549 lung carcinoma epithelial cells), 19.64 ± 0.46 μM (SiHa human Cervix cancer cell line) compared with clinical standard drug.