Antifibrotic and anticancer action of 5-ene amino/iminothiazolidinones

Here we describe the synthesis and the antifibrotic and anticancer activity determination of amino(imino)thiazolidinone derivatives. An efficient one-pot three-component reaction which involved [2 + 3]-cyclocondensation and Knoevenagel condensation was used for the synthesis of 5-ene-2-amino(imino)-4-thiazolidinones. Following amino-imino tautomerism, the compound structures were confirmed by X-ray analysis. Comparison of SRB assays on fibroblasts and cancer cells revealed that compounds which significantly reduced the viability of fibroblasts did not possess an anticancer effect. A series of thiazolidinone derivatives as interesting candidates for further testing has been identified. Among the tested compounds 2-{3-furan-2-ylmethyl-2-[(2-methyl-3-phenylallylidene)hydrazono]-thiazolidin-4-one-5-yl}-N-(3-trifluoromethylphenyl)-acetamide (5), N-(2-methoxyphenyl)-2-[5-(4-oxothiazolidin-2-ylideneamino)-[1,3,4]thiadiazol-2-ylsulfanyl]-acetamide (12), 3-[3-allyl-4-oxo-2-(thiazol-2-ylimino)thiazolidin-5-ylidene]-1,3-dihydroindol-2-one (33), and 5(Z)-(thiophen-2-ylmethylene)-4-(4-chlorophenylamino)thiazol-2-(5H)-one (34) possessed high antifibrotic activity levels, had a similar effect as Pirfenidone, and did not scavenge superoxide radicals. Their antifibrotic potential was confirmed using the xCelligence system.