Coronaviruses have led to severe emergencies in the world since the outbreak of SARS CoV in 2002, followed by MERS CoV in 2012. SARS CoV-2, the novel pandemic caused by coronaviruses that began in December 2019 in China has led to a total of 24066076 confirmed cases and a death toll of 823572 as reported by World Health Organisation on 26 August, 2020, spreading to 213 countries and territories. However, there are still no vaccines or medications available till date against SARS coronaviruses which is an urgent requirement to control the current pandemic like situations. Since many decades, heterocyclic scaffolds have been explored exhaustively for their anticancer, antimalarial, anti-inflammatory, antitubercular, antimicrobial, antidiabetic, antiviral and many more treatment capabilities. Therefore, through this review, we have tried to emphasize on the anticipated role of heterocyclic scaffolds in the design and discovery of the much-awaited anti-SARS CoV-2 therapy, by exploring the research articles depicting different heterocyclic moieties as targeting SARS, MERS and SARS CoV-2 coronaviruses. The heterocyclic motifs mentioned in the review can serve as crucial resources for the development of SARS coronaviruses treatment strategies.

The 4‐thiazolidinone moiety is a privileged scaffold showing diversity in biological responses like antiinflammatory, antidiabetic, anticancer, antitubercular, anesthetic, hypnotic, antiviral and many more. As a result of this, researchers have been studying and synthesizing this class of heterocycles through several simple as well as complex pathways as the target scaffold for biological studies. This review recapitulates the recent advances in the chemical and biological activities of 4‐thiazolidinones that have proved to be of immense importance in the discovery and development of several molecules and, thereby, the treatment of many ailments. This study will add to previously published reviews by examining the research on various biological activities of 4‐thiazolidinones, including patents, with a focus on structure–activity relationship (SAR) investigations. Literature and patents emphasizing synthetic schemes and biological activities of 4‐thiazolidinones have covered the data in the last decade. Here, sufficient efforts have been put into place to compile the synthetic strategies, establish SARs and enlist various patents so far for this fantastic molecule. The facile synthetic schemes and a vast range of biological activity profiles possessed by this nucleus may provide researchers with new opportunities toward novel therapeutics.

Background: Cancer can be considered as a genetic as well as a metabolic disorder. Current cancer treatment scenario looks like aggravating tumor cell metabolism, causing the disease to progress even with greater intensity. The cancer therapy is restricted to limitations of poor patient compliance due to toxicities to normal tissues and multi-drug resistance development. There is an emerging need for cancer therapy to be more focused on the better understanding of genetic, epigenetic and transcriptional changes resulting in cancer progression and their relationship with treatment sensitivity. Objective: The 4-thiazolidinone nucleus possesses marked anticancer potential towards different biotargets, thus targeting different cancer types like breast, prostate, lung, colorectal and colon cancers, renal cell adenocarcinomas and gliomas. Therefore, conjugating the 4-thiazolidinone scaffold with other promising moieties or by directing the therapy towards targeted drug delivery systems like the use of nanocarrier systems, can provide the gateway for optimizing the anticancer efficiency and minimizing the adverse effects and drug resistance development, thus providing stimulus for personalized pharmacotherapy. Methods: An exhaustive literature survey has been carried out to give an insight into the anticancer potential of the 4-thiazolidinone nucleus either alone or in conjugation with other active moieties, with the mechanisms involved in preventing proliferation and metastasis of cancer covering a vast range of publications of repute. Conclusion: This review aims to summarise the work reported on anticancer activity of 4-thiazolidinone derivatives covering various cancer biomarkers and pathways involved, citing the data from 2005 till now, which may be beneficial to the researchers for future development of more efficient 4-thiazolidinone derivatives.