Synthesis and Evaluation of Novel Metacetamol Derivatives with Hydrazone Moiety as Anticancer and Antimicrobial Agents

By exploiting the wide biological potential of the hydrazone scaffold, a series of hydrazone derivatives were synthesized, starting from N-(3-hydroxyphenyl)acetamide (metacetamol). The structures of the compounds were determined using IR, ¹ H and ¹³ C-NMR, and mass spectroscopic methods. The obtained molecules (3 a-j) were evaluated for their Anticancer potential against MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7 breast Cancer cell lines. According to the CCK-8 assay, all tested compounds showed moderate to potent Anticancer activity. Among them, N-(3-(2-(2-(4-nitrobenzylidene)hydrazinyl)-2-oxoethoxy)phenyl)acetamide (3 e) was found to be the most effective derivative with an IC₅₀ value of 9.89 μM against MDA-MB-231 cell lines. This compound was further tested for its potential effects on the apoptotic pathway. Molecular docking studies was also carried out for 3 e in the colchicine binding pocket of tubulin. Additionally, compound 3 e also demonstrated effective Antifungal activity, particularly against Candida krusei (MIC=8 μg/ml), indicating that nitro group at the 4^th position of the phenyl ring was the most preferable substituent for both cytotoxic and antimicrobial activity. Our preliminary findings suggest that compound 3 e could be exploited as a leading structure for further Anticancer and Antifungal drug development.