One-pot Cascade Synthesis of Pyrazole-based Isosteres of Valdecoxib by a [3+2] Cycloaddition/[1,5] Sigmatropic Rearrangement Sequence and Evaluation of their COX Inhibitory Activity

A series of 5-methyl-3,4-diaryl-substituted 1H-pyrazoles, N-isosteres of valdecoxib, was synthesized by a [3+2] cycloaddition/[1,5] sigmatropic rearrangement sequence starting from tosylhydrazine, aryl methyl ketones and terminal aryl alkynes bearing various substituents (H, Me, OMe, F, SO2Me, SO2NH2). New pyrazoles were prepared regioselectively in a one-pot process with moderate-good yields. All compounds were used in in vitro cyclooxygenase (COX) assays to determine inhibitory potency and selectivity to COX-1 and COX-2. In general, these new pyrazoles are characterized by selective COX-2 inhibition activity in a micromolar range. Structure-activity relationship studies showed that compounds possessing an electron-withdrawing group (F) in one of the aryl rings displayed higher COX-2 inhibition selectivity and activity than was determined for compounds containing electron-donating groups (Me, OMe).