Novel pyrimidine-pyridine hybrids: Synthesis, cyclooxygenase inhibition, anti-inflammatory activity and ulcerogenic liability.

Some derivatives containing pyrido[2,3-d:6,5d']dipyrimidine-4,5-diones (9a-f), tetrahydropyrido[2,3-d]pyrimidine-6-carbonitriles (11a-c) and 6-(4-acetylphenyl)-2-thioxo-2,3,5,6,7,8-hexahydro-1H-pyrimido[4,5-d]pyrimidin-4-one (12) were synthesized from 6-amino-2-thioxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-pyrimidin-4-one (8). The anti-inflammatory effect of these candidates was determined and the ulcer indices were calculated for active compounds. 7-Amino-5-(3,4,5-trimethoxyphenyl)-4-oxo-2-thioxo-1,2,3,4-tetrahydropyrido[2,3-d] pyrimidine-6-carbonitrile (11c) exhibited better edema inhibition than celecoxib. Moreover, compounds 9b, 9d and 11c revealed better COX-2 inhibitory activity in a range (IC50 = 0.25-0.89 µM) than celecoxib (IC50 = 1.11 µM). Regarding ulcerogenic liability, all of the compounds under the study were less ulcerogenic than indomethacin. Molecular docking studies had been carried on active candidates 9d and 11c to explore action mode of these candidates as leads for discovering other anti-inflammatory agents.