Novel 4-phenoxypyridine derivatives bearing imidazole-4-carboxamide and 1,2,4-triazole-3-carboxamide moieties: Design, synthesis and biological evaluation as potent antitumor agents

Two series of novel 4-phenoxypyridine derivatives containing imidazole-4-carboxamide and 4-methyl-5-oxo-4,5-dihydro-1,2,4-triazole-3-carboxamide moieties were synthesized and evaluated for their in vitro inhibitory activities against c-Met kinase and antiproliferative activities against MKN-45, A549 and H460 Cancer cell lines. The results indicated that most of the compounds showed moderate to good antitumor activities. The most promising compound T14 (with c-Met IC₅₀ value of 0.012 μM) showed remarkable antiproliferative activities against MKN-45, A549 and H460 cell lines with IC₅₀ values of 0.64 μM, 1.92 μM and 2.68 μM, respectively. Their preliminary structure-activity relationships (SARs) studies indicate that imidazole-4-carboxamide was more preferred as linker part, and electron-withdrawing groups (especially halogen groups) on the terminal phenyl rings were beneficial for improving the antitumor activities.