Electrochemical Synthesis of Versatile Pyrimidine and Oxadiazoles Tethered Triazoles as Inhibitors of VEGFR-2 in Human Breast Cancer Cells

Abstract

Metastasis, the dissemination of tumor cells, stands as the second most prominent contributor to mortality arising from breast cancer. To counteract this phenomenon, the molecular markers associated with angiogenesis, particularly vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and its receptor (VEGFR), have emerged as promising strategies for impeding the progression of tumor cells. Compounds like pyrimidines, coumarins, oxadiazoles, and triazoles have undergone comprehensive investigations due to their notable anticancer potential, highlighting their encouraging capacities in inhibiting VEGFR-2, an essential mediator of angiogenesis signaling. Herein, we have synthesized pyrimidine–triazoles and oxadiazole–triazoles using electrochemical and conventional methods. The newly synthesized compounds were evaluated for anticancer activity against MCF-7 breast cancer cells, and it was found that the compounds 8a and 8b showed IC50 values of 5.29 and 15.54 μM, respectively. Our in silico mode of action revealed that these compounds could target VEGFR-2, which was further evidenced by our in silico structure-based bioinformatic analysis. In conclusion, we reported an electrochemical method to prepare novel drug-like compounds, based on triazole and other heterocyclic hybrids, that could be used to design VGFR-targeting drugs.