Mechanosynthesis and computational studies of new imidazole-based selenium adducts as potential anticancer agents against human prostate and cervical cancer.

AIMS: This study aimed to design and synthesize three new selenium adducts to evaluate their anticancer potential against human prostate cancer (PC3) and cervical cancer (HeLa) cell lines using MTT assays.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: Imidazole-based selenium adducts, 1,3-dipropyl-1,3-dihydro-2H-imidazole-2-selenone (C1), 1-butyl-3-propyl-1,3-dihydro-2H-imidazole-2-selenone (C2), and 1,3-dihexyl-1,3-dihydro-2H-imidazole-2-selenone (C3), were prepared by using their corresponding symmetric and unsymmetrical N-alkylated mononuclear imidazolium salts under solvent-free conditions through a mechanochemical approach instead of the conventional solution method. All synthesized compounds were characterized using elemental analysis, UV-visible, FT-IR, 1H-NMR, and 13C-NMR spectroscopic techniques.

RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: The prepared compounds exhibited higher cytotoxicity against cancer cell lines than against normal cells. The results revealed that selenium adducts were more potent than their respective azolium salts. Among the test compounds, C3 showed significant anticancer potential against both PC3 and HeLa cell lines with reasonably good IC50 values of 5.75 ± 0.21 µM and 7.86 ± 0.12 µM, respectively. Theoretical studies, comprising molecular docking and DFT analysis, reinforced the experimental results and suggest that selenium adducts can be used as new anticancer agents.