Exploring 2-(benzylthio)-5-(4-nitrophenyl)-1,3,4-oxadiazole as antiproliferative agent: Synthesis, single crystal XRD, DFT, Hirshfeld surface analysis, in vitro antiproliferative activity and molecular docking analysis

Abstract

In this investigation, an oxadiazole derivative namely 2-(benzylthio)-5-(4-nitrophenyl)-1,3,4-oxadiazole (2-Btno) was synthesized. The study delves into the exploration of its anticancer efficacy against Dalton's lymphoma (DL) tumor cells, obtained from murine T-cell lymphoma. The compound 2-Btno has been characterized by elemental analysis, IR, UV–Vis., NMR, and single-crystal X-ray diffraction data. The compound 2-Btno crystallizes in a monoclinic system with space group P 21/n. The crystal structure is stabilized by weak CH···O and NH···N hydrogen bonding weak interactions, which are quantitively examined through Hirshfeld surface analysis. The DFT calculations are also performed to verify physiochemical properties of 2-Btno and the results obtained are in good agreement with the experimental results. The HOMO and LUMO energy gap of 3.402 eV for 2-Btno indicates good NLO properties. The cytotoxic activity of 2-Btno against Dalton's lymphoma cells was assessed through the MTT assay. The results indicated notable anticancer efficacy, with an IC50 value of 80 μg/mL. The mode of action of compound 2-Btno was examined through various assays, and the findings indicate that compound 2-Btno functions by downregulating mitochondrial membrane potential and upregulating the reactive oxygen species (ROS) production. Molecular docking study was conducted to establish the correlation between the cytotoxicity of the compound and its binding affinity within the active sites of crucial anti-cancer and anti-apoptotic target proteins MDM2 (PDB: 3JZK), Bcl-XL (PDB: 4QVX) and Bcl-2 (PDB: 6O0K).