Design and Synthesis of Unsymmetric Benzils, Quinoxalines, and Evaluations of their Anticancer Activities against Human Non‐Small Lung Cancer Cells

Abstract

Quinoxaline and its derivatives exhibit a broad spectrum of biological activity, making them valuable for various therapeutic applications. However, most quinoxalines are synthetically produced due to their scarcity in nature. In this article, a series of unsymmetric benzils were synthesized and subsequently condensed with 1,2‐diaminobenzene to produce unsymmetric quinoxalines. The novel synthetic benzils and quinoxalines were evaluated for their anticancer activities against human non‐small‐cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cells harboring different gene mutations, to explore their potential as anticancer agents. Among these synthesized molecules, compound 5g demonstrated inhibitory effects comparable to those of cisplatin.