Synthesis of some 3,4-disubstituted-6,7-dihydro-imidazo[2,1-b][1,3]thiazole and 3,4-disubstituted-7,8-dihydro-6H-imidazo[2,1-b][1,3]thiazine derivatives and evaluation of their cytotoxicities against F2408 and 5RP7 cells

This article describes the synthesis of 3,4-disubstituted-6,7-dihydro- imidazo[2,1-b][1,3]thiazoles and 3,4-disubstituted-7,8-dihydro-6H-imidazo[2,1-b] [1,3]thiazines, having substituted or nonsubstituted phenyl rings at the 5,6 and 2,3 positions, respectively, their cytotoxic effects through noncancer (F2408) and cancer (5RP7) cells, and their detailed ¹H- and ¹³C-nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectral characterization. The title compounds were obtained by the cyclization of 4,5-diaryl-imidazole-2- thione and dihaloalkane (i.e., 1,2-dihaloethane or 1,3-dihalopropane), in the presence of potassium carbonate (K₂CO₃) in N,N-dimethyl formamide (DMF). 4,5-Diaryl-imidazole-2-thione was prepared by condensation of α-hydroxyketones (acyloins), which were obtained by treating aldehydes with cyanide, with thioureas in AcOH. The structure of imidazo[2,1-b][1,3] thiazole and imidazo[2,1-b][1,3]thiazine derivatives was confirmed by infrared (IR), ¹H-NMR, and ¹³C-NMR. The cytotoxicities of the synthesized compounds on both of noncancer (F2408) and cancer (5RP7) cells were measured by 3-(4,5-dimethyl-thiazollyl-2)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium (MTT) assay. In the presence of only lower doses of compounds 9 and 11, bearing methyl or methoxy substituents on the phenyl ring of imidazo[2,1-b][1,3]thiazole scaffold, the cytotoxic effect was higher on 5RP7 cells than control cells after 24 h.