Novel 4-arylaminoquinazolines bearing N,N-diethyl(aminoethyl)amino moiety with antitumour activity as EGFR(wt)-TK inhibitor

Herein, four novel 4-arylaminoquinazoline derivatives with N,N-diethyl(aminoethyl)amino moiety were designed, synthesised and evaluated on biological activities in vitro. All synthesised compounds have inhibitory effects against tumour cells (SW480, A549, A431 and NCI-H1975). In particular, 4-(3-chloro-4-(3-fluorobenzyloxy)phenylamino)-6-(5-((N,N-diethyl(aminoethyl))aminomethyl)furan-2-yl)quinazoline (6a) and 6-(5-((N,N-diethylethyl)aminomethyl)furan-2-yl)-4-(4-(E)-(propen-1-yl)phenylamino)quinazoline (6d) were potent antitumour agents which showed high antiproliferative activities against tumour cells in vitro. Moreover, compound 6a could induce late apoptosis of A549 cells at high concentrations and arrest cell cycle of A549 cells in the G0/G1 phase at tested concentrations. Also, compound 6a could inhibit the activity of wild type epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase (EGFR(wt)-TK) with IC(50) value of 15.60 nM. Molecular docking showed that compound 6a formed three hydrogen bonds with EGFR(wt)-TK, while lapatinib formed only two hydrogen bonds with the receptor protein. It is believed that this work would be giving a reference for developing anti-cancer drugs targeted EGFR-TK.