Synthesis and Anti-Inflammatory as well as Anticancer Activities of a Series of 2-arylSubstituted 1H-anthra[1,2-d]imidazole-6,11-diones

A simple, straightforward, and efficient method has been developed for the synthesis of a series of biologically promising 2-aryl substituted 1H-anthra[1,2-d]imidazole-6,11-dione derivatives from the reactions of 1,2-diaminoanthraquinone and various substituted benzaldehydes in the presence of a catalytic amount of ZrOCl₂·8H₂O as a commercially available, less toxic catalyst in an aqueous ethanol under refluxed conditions. Conducting molecular docking analysis aimed at assessing their potential anti-cancer and anti-inflammatory effects, we investigated the binding interactions between the newly synthesized compounds and established protein targets of cancer and inflammation. The analysis unveiled several important interactions between the synthesized derivatives and the cancer-related target proteins. These interactions comprised hydrogen bonding, pi-pi stacking, and hydrophobic interactions, suggesting potential therapeutic efficacy. Among all the derivatives, the compound 3k demonstrated exceptional promise, yielding a superior docking score of -9.9 and -12.6 kcal/mol against cancer and inflammation, respectively. But the cell viability study revealed that the compounds 3a-3k are non-cytotoxic against the tested RAW 264.7 cells. At the same time, compounds 3a and 3b showed significant COX-2 inhibitory activity with IC50= 45.45±1.44nM and 40.63±1.69, respectively.