Issue 21, 2025, Issue in Progress

New spirooxindole pyrrolidine/pyrrolizidine analogs: design, synthesis, and evaluation as an anticancer agent

Abstract

A novel series of mesitylene-based spirooxindoles were synthesized via the multicomponent [3 + 2] cycloaddition reaction in a greener medium. Spectroscopic techniques such as 1H and 13C NMR and HRMS analysis were carried out for the structural elucidation of all the spirooxindole derivatives. The in vitro cytotoxicity properties of spirooxindole analogs 4/5(a–g) against the human lung (A549) cancer cell line exhibited encouraging outcomes. Of the fourteen synthesized spirooxindole analogs, seven compounds (4a, 4b, 4e, 4g, 5c, 5e, and 5f) showed greater potency towards the A549 lung cancer cell line. The cytotoxicity of the spirooxindole analogs was also investigated against a non-cancerous mouse embryonic fibroblast NIH-3T3 cell line. Compounds 5e and 5f, which exhibited better cytotoxic effect against the cancerous A549 cells (3.48 and 1.2 μM), appeared to be non-cytotoxic against the non-cancerous mouse embryonic fibroblast. Studies using Hoechst and acridine orange/ethidium bromide staining also demonstrated the apoptotic effect of the potent compounds, which decreased cell proliferation.

Graphical abstract: New spirooxindole pyrrolidine/pyrrolizidine analogs: design, synthesis, and evaluation as an anticancer agent

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
07 Mar 2025
Accepted
24 Apr 2025
First published
19 May 2025
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY-NC license

RSC Adv., 2025,15, 16623-16634

New spirooxindole pyrrolidine/pyrrolizidine analogs: design, synthesis, and evaluation as an anticancer agent

N. Nivetha, J. Venkatesan, D. Murugan, L. Rangasamy, S. P. Wu and S. Velmathi, RSC Adv., 2025, 15, 16623 DOI: 10.1039/D5RA01632K

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