N,N-Substituted benzimidazole salts were successfully synthesized and characterized by 1H-NMR, 13C {1H} NMR and IR techniques, which support the proposed structures. Catalysts generated in situ were efficiently used for the carbonylative cross-coupling reaction of 2 bromopyridine with various boronic acids. The reaction was carried out in THF at 110 °C in the presence of K2CO3 under inert conditions and yields unsymmetrical arylpyridine ketones. All N,N-substituted benzimidazole salts 2a-i and 4a-i studied in this work were screened for their cytotoxic activities against human cancer cell lines such us MDA-MB-231, MCF-7 and T47D. The N,N-substituted benzimidazoles 2e and 2f exhibited the most cytotoxic effect with promising cytotoxic activity with IC50 values of 4.45 μg mL-1 against MDA-MB-231 and 4.85 μg mL-1 against MCF7 respectively.
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