Design, synthesis and biological evaluation of pyridin-3-yl pyrimidines as potent Bcr-Abl inhibitors

A series of pyridin-3-yl pyrimidines was synthesized and evaluated for their Bcr-Abl inhibitory and anticancer activity. The preliminary results indicated that some compounds were promising anticancer agents. Compounds A2, A8, and A9 exhibited potent Bcr-Abl inhibitory activity, suggesting that aniline containing halogen substituents might be important for biological activity. Molecular docking was carried out to investigate the binding mode of them with Bcr-Abl. Details of synthesis and SAR studies of these compounds are described. A series of phenylaminopyrimidines was designed and synthesized as potent Bcr-Abl inhibitors. The screening of these rationally designed compounds for antitumor activity had identified three candidate leads which could be further optimized to improve the anticancer activities.