Design, synthesis, antimicrobial and cytotoxicity study on human colorectal carcinoma cell line of new 4,4′-(1,4-phenylene)bis(pyrimidin-2-amine) derivatives

Abstract Background Pyrimidine molecules attracted organic chemists very much due to their biological and chemotherapeutic importance. Their related fused heterocycles are of interest as potential bioactive molecules so, we have designed and prepared a new class of 4,4′-(1,4-phenylene)bis(pyrimidin-2-amine) molecules and screened for their in vitro antibacterial, antifungal and cytotoxicity studies. Results The structures of synthesized bis-pyrimidine molecules were confirmed by physicochemical and spectral means. The synthesized compounds were further evaluated for their in vitro biological potentials i.e. antimicrobial activity using tube dilution method and anticancer activity against human colorectal carcinoma (HCT116) cancer cell line by Sulforhodamine B assay. Conclusions The biological study demonstrated that compounds s7, s8, s11, s14, s16, s17 and s18 have shown more promising antimicrobial activity with best MIC values than the cefadroxil (antibacterial) and fluconazole (antifungal) and compound s3 found to have better anticancer activity against human colorectal carcinoma (HCT116) cancer cell line.