Unveiling a New Selenocyanate as a Multitarget Candidate with Anticancer, Antileishmanial and Antibacterial Potential.

Currently, cancer, leishmaniasis and bacterial infections represent a serious public health burden worldwide. Six cinnamyl and benzodioxyl derivatives incorporating selenium (Se) as selenocyanate, diselenide, or selenide were designed and synthesized through a nucleophilic substitution and/or a reduction using hydrides. Ferrocene was also incorporated by a Friedel-Crafts acylation. All the compounds were screened in vitro for their antiproliferative, antileishmanial, and antibacterial properties. Their capacity to scavenge free radicals was also assessed as a first approach to test their antioxidant activity. Benzodioxyl derivatives - showed cytotoxicity against colon (HT-29) and lung (H1299) cancer cell lines, with IC values below 12 µM, and were also fairly selective when tested in nonmalignant cells. Selenocyanate compounds - displayed potent antileishmanial activity in and , with IC values below 5 µM. They also exhibited antibacterial activity in six bacterial strains, notably in with MIC and MBC values of 12.5 µg/mL. Ferrocene-containing selenide was also identified as a potent antileishmanial agent with radical scavenging activity. Remarkably, derivative with a selenocyanate moiety was found to act as a multitarget compound with antiproliferative, leishmanicidal, and antibacterial activities. Thus, the current work showed that could be an appealing scaffold to design potential therapeutic drugs for multiple pathologies.