Design, synthesis, and preliminary biological evaluation of novel ethyl 1-(2′-hydroxy-3′-aroxypropyl)-3-aryl-1H-pyrazole-5-carboxylate

We synthesized a series of novel small molecules, ethyl 1-(2′-hydroxy-3′-aroxypropyl)-3-aryl-1H-pyrazole-5-carboxylate derivatives 3a–3o, by the reaction of ethyl 3-aryl-1H-pyrazole-5-carboxylate with 2-aryloxymethylepoxide in the presence of potassium carbonate at refluxing in acetonitrile in moderate or excellent yields. We investigated the effects of all the compounds on A549 cell growth. The results showed that 15 compounds could suppress A549 lung cancer cell growth. Among them, compound 3i was the most effective small molecule in inhibiting A549 cell growth. Compound 3f might most effectively induce A549 cell differentiation. Compound 3g remarkably induced cellular vacuolation.