Synthesis of novel GABA-Triazole tethered derivatives of Noscapine and their anticancer activities

Synthesis of novel noscapine triazole tethered derivatives with γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) linker is reported. Attachment of the linker was done by N-demethylation of noscapine followed by coupling with N-Boc protected GABA. The straightforward synthesis of the target molecules was made by a three-component reaction between GABA-noscapine, p-nitrophenyl azide, and commercially available ketones under metal-free conditions to produce a library with diverse functional groups. Anticancer activity of the synthesized derivatives was evaluated on MCF-7 cancer cell line. The best anticancer activity was demonstrated by a compound with an IC₅₀ value of 57.2 µM, close to that of noscapine (IC₅₀ = 55.2 µM).