Non-nucleophilic base promoted synthesis of azo-linked oxazolone-pyrazole hybrids: Antimicrobial, antitubercular, anticancer evaluations and in-silico modeling insights

Ten new non-nucleophilic base (DBU) catalyzed oxazolone-bearing pyrazole derivatives were created to treat infectious diseases caused by bacterial, mycobacterial strains, and cancerous cell lines. Compounds 7b and 7c showed excellent antibacterial and antifungal activity. Compound 7b was highly effective against M. tuberculosis H37Rv, with a MIC of 0.06 μg/mL and significant binding affinities to AcrB of E. coli (−12 Kcal/mol), TriABC of P. aeruginosa (−12.5 Kcal/mol), and MepR of S. aureus (−10.6 Kcal/mol). Based on the findings, compounds 7b, 7c, and 7e exhibit proficient binding affinity with two essential targets, namely Enoyl-[acyl-carrier-protein] reductase and Topoisomerase I, of M. tuberculosis. Compound 7b showed superior cytotoxic activity against all cancer types except leukemia with GI₅₀ values of 1.26–1.83 µM and LC₅₀ values of 5.36–7.88 µM. Compound 7a demonstrated remarkable anticancer activity against colon, melanoma, ovarian, renal, and breast cancer cell lines with GI₅₀ values of 1.60–2.55 µM.