Syntheses of phenylpyrazolodiazepin-7-ones as conformationally rigid analogs of aminopyrazole amide scaffold and their antiproliferative effects on cancer cells

Recently, we have reported the syntheses and antiproliferative activities of N-(5-amino-1-(4-methoxybenzyl)-1H-pyrazol-4-yl amide derivatives on melanoma cells. As a continuous work for antiproliferative agents in melanoma, here we report the synthesis of conformationally rigid analogs, phenyl-6,8-dihydropyrazolo[3,4-b][1,4]diazepin-7(1H)-one derivatives 7a-g, 8a-o and their antiproliferative activities against A375P melanoma cell line and U937 hematopoietic cell line. Most compounds showed competitive antiproliferative activities to sorafenib, the reference standard. Among them, N-(3-(1-benzyl-7-oxo-1,6,7,8-tetrahydropyrazolo[3,4-b][1,4]diazepin-5-yl)phenyl)-4-chloro-3-(trifluoro methyl)benzamide-amino-1-(4-methoxybenzyl)-1H-pyrazol-4-yl)-5-(3-(4-chloro-3-(trifluoromethyl) phenyl) ureido)-2-methylbenzamide (7b) exhibited potent activities (GI(50)=0.43 μM and 0.06 μM) on both cell lines. It has been further confirmed to be a potent and selective Raf kinases inhibitor and also mild inhibitor of PI3Kα.