Discovery of anilinopyrimidine-based naphthamide derivatives as potent VEGFR-2 inhibitors

Vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-2 (VEGFR-2) plays an important role in tumor angiogenesis, and inhibition of the VEGFR-2 signaling pathway has emerged as an attractive strategy for the treatment of cancer. Herein, we describe the design, synthesis, and biological evaluation of anilinopyrimidine-based naphthamide derivatives as potent VEGFR-2 inhibitors. Among the new derivatives, compound 3k exhibited high VEGFR-2 inhibitory potency in both enzymatic and VEGF-induced HUVEC cellular proliferation assays (IC50 = 0.5 and 9.8 nM, respectively). Kinase selectivity profiling revealed that 3k was a highly selective VEGFR-2 inhibitor. Moreover, 3k effectively inhibited angiogenesis in HUVEC tube formation assay.