Synthesis of imidazolinone and benzoxazole derivatives, and evaluation of their anticancer activity

A series of imidazolinone and benzoxazole derivatives (3 and 5) have been synthesized by condensation of oxazolinone derivatives (2a-c) with aniline and 2-hydroxyaniline. Acetyl derivatives (4 and 6) were prepared by acetylation of compounds 3 and 5 with acetic anhydride. Reaction of compound 5 with chloroacetyl chloride produced chloroacetyl derivative 7. The results revealed that the imidazolinone and benzoxazole derivatives had potent activity against cancer cell lines MCF-7 and HePG2, and that the benzoxazole derivatives were more potent than imidazolinone derivatives.