Exploring novel nitrofuranyl sulfonohydrazides as anti-Leishmania and anti-cancer agents: Synthesis, in vitro efficacy and hit identification.

Leishmaniasis and cancer are two deadly diseases that plague the human population. There are a limited number of drugs available for the treatment of these diseases; however, their overuse has resulted in pathogenic resistance. Recent studies have indicated the repurposing of nitro-containing compounds to be a new avenue into finding new treatments. In this study, new nitrofuranyl sulfonohydrazide derivatives were synthesized and evaluated for their in vitro antileishmanial and anticancer activities. The analogue 2h, featuring biphenyl moiety exhibited selective (SI > 10) submicromolar activity (IC 0.97 μM) against acute promyelocytic leukemia cells hence was identified anticancer hit. This study revealed no antileishmanial hit. However, several promising analogues were uncovered and are worthy of further structural modifications to improve their toxicity and bioactivity profiles.