Design, Synthesis, and Biological Evaluation of Novel Hydroxamic Acid-Based Organoselenium Hybrids

We report the design and synthesis of novel hydroxamic acid-tethered organoselenium (OSe) hybrids. Their antimicrobial and anticancer activities were assessed against different microbes (e.g., Candida albicans (C. albicans), Escherichia coli (E. coli), and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus)), as well as liver and breast carcinomas. OSe hybrid 8 showed promising anticancer activity, with IC₅₀ = 7.57 ± 0.5 µM against HepG2 and IC₅₀ = 9.86 ± 0.7 µM against MCF-7 cells. Additionally, OSe compounds 8 and 15 exhibited promising antimicrobial activities, particularly against C. albicans (IA% = 91.7 and 83.3) and S. aureus (IA% = 90.5 and 71.4). The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) assay confirmed the potential antimicrobial activity of OSe compound 8. OSe compounds 8 and 16 displayed good antioxidant activities compared to vitamin C in the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and the 2,2'-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid (ABTS) assays. These results indicate that hydroxamic acid-based organoselenium hybrids have promising biological activities such as anticancer, antimicrobial, and antioxidant properties, especially compounds 8, 13, 15, and 16, which warrant further studies.