Synthesis, molecular modeling and biological evaluation of chalcone thiosemicarbazide derivatives as novel anticancer agents.

A series of novel chalcone thiosemicarbazide derivatives (4a-4x) have been designed, synthesized, structurally determined, and their biological activities were also evaluated as potential EGFR kinase inhibitors. All the synthesized compounds are first reported. Among the compounds, compound 4r showed the most potent biological activity (IC(50) = 0.78 ± 0.05 μM for HepG2 and IC(50) = 0.35 μM for EGFR), which is comparable to the positive controls. Docking simulation was also performed to position compound 4r into the EGFR active site to determine the probable binding model. Antiproliferative assay results demonstrated that some of these compounds possessed good antiproliferative activity against HepG2. Compound 4r with potent inhibitory activity in tumor growth inhibition may be a potential anticancer agent.