Novel oxadiazole functionalized pyridopyrimidine derivatives; their anticancer activity and molecular docking studies

Abstract A series of novel oxadiazole functionalized pyridopyrimidine derivatives prepared starting from 6‐methyl/ethyl‐2‐oxo‐4‐(trifluoromethyl)‐1,2‐dihydropyridine‐3‐carbonitrile 1 . This compound 1 on reaction with sulfuric acid obtained compound 2 , further compound 2 on reaction with chloroacetamide followed by reaction with ethoxy methylene malonic diethyl ester coupling and further cyclization to obtain compound 5 . Compound 5 on reaction with hydrazide hydrate obtained hydrazide derivatives 6 . Compound 6 on reaction with diverse substituted aromatic acids to get oxadiazole derivatives 7a–l . All the final compounds 7a–l evaluated for anticancer activity against four human cancer cell lines such as HeLa—cervical cancer (CCL‐2); COLO 205—colon cancer (CCL‐222); HepG2—liver cancer (HB‐8065); and MCF7—breast cancer (HTB‐22) and promising compounds 7d and 7k have been identified and evaluated for molecular docking interactions.