Design, Synthesis, Spectroscopic Characterization, Molecular Docking and Biological Evaluation of 9H-Carbazole Linked 4-Nitrophenol: A DFT Approach

Abstract

The FT-IR and FT-Raman spectra of 3-(4-nitrophenoxy)-9,9a-dihydro-4aH-carbazole (9HCNP) molecule were recorded. The theoretical wavenumbers are in proper agreement with the observed results. The electronic properties, such as natural bond orbital study of the molecule, were confirmed using the inter/intra molecular interactions, molecular electrostatic potential, and Mulliken population analyses on the atomic charge distribution, performed by the Becke-3–Lee–Yang–Parr (CAM-B3LYP) method utilizing Gaussian 09 software. The oscillator strength of electronic transitions and energies of HOMO and LUMO molecular orbitals were carried out to evaluate the global chemical reactivity descriptors of 9HCNP. The molecular docking evaluation was carried out to evaluate the structure–activity relationship and the binding affinity of the molecule, which shows that the molecule can perform as an inhibitor of breast cancer-causing human topoisomerase-I and II-DNA receptors. The result of the conjugation was found to play a significant role in bioactivity and drug-likeliness properties, which can be supported by the molecular docking analysis of those compounds. In addition, the morphological changes in control and in vitro cytotoxicity of 9HCNP confirm the anticancer activity of 9HCNP against human breast cancer cell lines was assessed in 24-h tetrazolium-dye (MTT) cytotoxicity assays and also analyzed in terms of the role of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in cell life. Hence, the results show the in vitro anticancer activity of the molecule for the development of human breast cancer drugs.