One crucial strategy for the treatment of breast cancer involves focusing on the Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor (VEGFR-2) signaling system. Consequently, the development of new (VEGFR-2) inhibitors is of the utmost importance. In this study, novel 3-thiazolhydrazinylcoumarins were designed and synthesized via the reaction of phenylazoacetylcoumarin with various hydrazonoyl halides and α-bromoketones. By using elemental and spectral analysis data (IR, ¹H-NMR, ¹³C-NMR, and Mass), the ascribed structures for all newly synthesized compounds were clarified, and the mechanisms underlying their formation were delineated. The molecular docking studies of the resulting 6-(phenyldiazenyl)-2H-chromen-2-one (3, 6a–e, 10a–c and 12a–c) derivatives were assessed against VEGFR-2 and demonstrated comparable activities to that of Sorafenib (approved medicine) with compounds 6d and 6b showing the highest binding scores (−9.900 and −9.819 kcal/mol, respectively). The cytotoxicity of the most active thiazole derivatives 6d, 6b, 6c, 10c and 10a were investigated for their human breast cancer (MCF-7) cell line and normal cell line LLC-Mk2 using MTT assay and Sorafenib as the reference drug. The results revealed that compounds 6d and 6b exhibited greater anticancer activities (IC₅₀ = 10.5 ± 0.71 and 11.2 ± 0.80 μM, respectively) than the Sorafenib reference drug (IC₅₀ = 5.10 ± 0.49 μM). Therefore, the present study demonstrated that thiazolyl coumarins are potential (VEGFR-2) inhibitors and pave the way for the synthesis of additional libraries based on the reported scaffold, which could eventually lead to the development of efficient treatment for breast cancer.

A novel set of thiazolylhydrazonothiazoles bearing an indole moiety were synthesized by subjection reactions of carbothioamide derivative and hydrazonoyl chlorides (or α-haloketones). The cytotoxicity of the synthesized compounds was evaluated against the colon carcinoma cell line (HCT-116), liver carcinoma cell line (HepG2), and breast carcinoma cell line (MDA-MB-231), and demonstrated encouraging activity. Furthermore, when representative products were assessed for toxicity against normal cells, minimal toxic effects were observed, indicating their potential safety for use in pharmacological studies. The mechanism of action of the tested products, as inhibitors of the epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase domain (EGFR TK) protein, was suggested through docking studies that assessed their binding scores and modes, in comparison to a reference standard (W19), thus endorsing their anticancer activity.

A new set of laterally OCH₃-substituted photoactive liquid crystalline analogues, 4-hexyloxy phenyl- imino-4ʹ-(3-methoxyphenyl)-4ʹ’-alkoxybenzoates, were synthesized and investigated for their mesomorphic behavior. The prepared set constitutes five analogues that differ from each other by the terminally attached compact polar group. Characterization of the synthesized derivatives is conducted using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), polarized optical microscopy (POM), and UV-spectroscopy. Molecular structures were elucidated by elemental analyses, FT-IR and NMR spectroscopy. DSC and POM investigations indicated that all the prepared derivatives are monomorphic possessing the nematic (N) phase, except for the unsubstituted derivative that is nonmesomorphic. On the other side, the photophysical study and the optical spectra measurements confirm the photoactivity of the present compounds under UV/visible irradiation. The measured optical spectra showed impressive enhancement in the optical absorption and reduction in the optical bandgap from 3.63 to 3.0 eV depending on the terminal group. From the study of the DC electric properties, the lowest resistance, 106.5 GΩ at scan rate 0.1 V/s, was observed for the I6_d film with Cl terminal, which decreased to 49.5 GΩ by increasing the scan rate to 0.5 V/s. Moreover, the electrical conductance is decreased from 9.39 pS to 1.35 pS at scan rate 0.1 V/s by changing the terminal group from Cl to F. The enhanced optical absorption and the reduced energy gap make the optimized samples suitable material for solar energy applications.

A novel catalytic approach for the synthesis of symmetric and asymmetric azines has been developed. The environmentally benign protocol was achieved via condensation of 1-[(2-thienyl)ethylidene]hydrazine (1) with different aromatic aldehydes 2a–h and acetyl heterocyclic compounds (4, 6, 8, 10, and 12) in the presence of cellulose sulfuric acid (CSA) as the green catalyst. These procedures offer an interesting method for the large-scale industrial manufacture of azines due to their high percentage yield, mild reaction conditions, broad substrate range, and utilization of an economical and environmentally acceptable catalyst. Additionally, the molecular docking of the products to the monoamine oxidase (MAO-A) target protein was achieved to highlight the possible binding interaction with the amino acid residues Arg51, Glu43, Gly22, Gly49, Gly443, Ala272, Ile335, and Tyr407 at the point of binding. The binding interaction energy was discovered to be (− 6.48 kcal/mol) for the protein MAO-A (PDB ID: 2Z5X). The most effective azine derivatives 7 and 13 revealed some major conserved interactions between the MAO-A protein’s binding site amino acid residues and the PDB co-crystal ligand 2Z5X. Moreover, azine derivatives 3a and 3f showed the lowest binding activity with the target MAO-A.