Design, synthesis, and evaluation of 9-(pyrimidin-2-yl)-9H-carbazole derivatives disrupting mitochondrial homeostasis in human lung adenocarcinoma

Since more than 85% of lung Cancer cases are non-small cell lung Cancer (NSCLC), finding novel agents with anti-tumor activities is meaningful for NSCLC patients. Mitochondria is essential for cellular energy metabolism in Cancer, and regulating mitochondrial bioenergetics is emerging as a practical approach for Cancer treatment and prevention. The carbazole scaffold is an active structure showing anti-cancer biological activity, and the structural diversity has been expanded through the improvement and optimization of synthesizing methods. To find novel carbazole derivatives with great anti-tumor potential and explore structures variety, we designed and synthesized a series of 9-(pyrimidin-2-yl)-9H-carbazole derivatives based on the previously reported Cp∗Rh(III)/H⁺ tandem catalytic system. With thoroughly bioactivity exploration, we found benzo[d] [1,3]dioxol-5-yl(9-(pyrimidin-2-yl)-9H-carbazol-1-yl)methanone (compound 5n) showed notable activity in disrupting the mitochondrial homeostasis, induced cell cycle arrest and Apoptosis in human adenocarcinoma cells, and finally showed anti-tumor activity in an NSCLC-xenograft mice model.