Synthesis and Biological Activity Characterization of Novel 5-Oxopyrrolidine Derivatives with Promising Anticancer and Antimicrobial Activity

The 1-(4-acetamidophenyl)-5-oxopyrrolidine carboxylic acid was applied for synthesizing derivatives bearing azole, diazole, and hydrazone moieties in the molecule. Modification of an acetamide fragment to the free amino group afforded compounds with two functional groups, which enabled to provide a series of 4-substituted-1-(4-substituted phenyl)pyrrolidine-2-ones. The resulted compounds 2 and 4–22 were subjected to the in vitro anticancer and antimicrobial activity determination. The compounds 18–22 exerted the most potent anticancer activity against A549 cells. Furthermore, compound 21 bearing 5-nitrothiophene substituents demonstrated promising and selective antimicrobial activity against multidrug-resistant Staphylococcus aureus strains, including linezolid and tedizolid-resistant S. aureus. These results demonstrate that 5-oxopyrolidine derivatives are attractive scaffolds for the further development of anticancer and antimicrobial compounds targeting multidrug-resistant Gram-positive pathogens.