Anticancer Activity of Some Boronic Acid Arylidene Heterocycles

This research was done in order to investigate the anticancer activity of boronic acid arylidene heterocycles. Boronic acid, heterocycles, and aryl compounds have all independently exhibited various anti-microbial properties and have shown potential to be used in pharmaceuticals for the treatment of viruses and cancers. Using a one-step protocol developed by Dr. Murray, several different arylheterocyclic compounds were combined with an arylboronic acid to synthesize novel compounds. These were then tested for their anti-cancer activity on glioblastoma brain cancer cells. Although varied in potency, all had some amount of anti-cellular effect on the cancer cells. This is only the start of analyzing these compounds and further research should be done in order to realize their full potential. INTRODUCTION The purpose of this research project is to investigate the anticancer activity of boronic acid arylidene heterocycles. While similar studies have been conducted with these types of compounds, the specific compounds in this study have not previously been synthesized and tested. Dr. Murray has developed a simple one-step protocol for their chemical synthesis that facilitates the exploring of their biological activity. Choosing the compounds for this research was based in part on the independent bioactivity of boronic acid and heterocycles. In recent years, the field of pharmacology has shown a growing interest in these compounds for medicinal purposes. Boronic acid has demonstrated anticancer [1], antibacterial [2], and antiviral [3] properties in past research, and one of the reasons behind the growing interest in boronic acid for therapeutic applications is that boron has been found in natural products of certain bacteria and is also involved in plant wellbeing, such as the building of cell walls [4]. The heterocyclic compounds chosen for the