N-Naphthoyl Thiourea Derivatives: An Efficient Ultrasonic-Assisted Synthesis, Reaction, and In Vitro Anticancer Evaluations

Wael Abdelgayed Ahmed Arafa; Amira Atef Ghoneim; Asmaa K Mourad

doi:10.1021/acsomega.1c06718

N-Naphthoyl Thiourea Derivatives: An Efficient Ultrasonic-Assisted Synthesis, Reaction, and In Vitro Anticancer Evaluations

ACS Omega. 2022 Feb 9;7(7):6210-6222. doi: 10.1021/acsomega.1c06718. eCollection 2022 Feb 22.

Authors

Wael Abdelgayed Ahmed Arafa¹, Amira Atef Ghoneim¹, Asmaa K Mourad²

Affiliations

¹ Chemistry Department, College of Science, Jouf University, P. O. Box 2014, Sakaka 2014 Jouf, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
² Chemistry Department, Faculty of Science, Fayoum University, P.O. Box 63514, Fayoum 63514, Egypt.

Abstract

This work demonstrates the optimization of an efficient, mild, and environmentally friendly synthetic approach to access a diverse library of N-naphthoyl thioureas. These derivatives could be exploited as precursor scaffolds for designing valuable heterocycles with anticipated biological activities. Additionally, the utilization of a copper complex derived from the newly synthesized N-naphthoyl thiourea ligand in the photodegradation of methyl orange (MO) dye was explored. The antiproliferative effect of the synthesized derivatives was examined against MCF-7, HCT116, and A549 cancer cell lines. Most of the assembled derivatives revealed a significant cytotoxic effect, in some cases, greater than doxorubicin. Of these, the copper complex demonstrated significant antitumor activities (IC₅₀ < 1.3 μM) and lesser cytotoxic impact (IC₅₀ > 76 μM), indicating its possibility as a pioneering candidate for future carcinogenic pharmaceutics. Relations between the structure and activity also have been addressed.