Design, synthesis, and biological evaluation of 4-((6,7-dimethoxyquinoline-4-yl)oxy)aniline derivatives as FLT3 inhibitors for the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia.

FMS-like tyrosine kinase 3 (FLT3) was an important therapeutic target in acute myeloid leukemia (AML). We synthesized two series of 4-((6,7-dimethoxyquinoline-4-yl)oxy)aniline derivatives possessing the semicarbazide moiety and 2,2,2-trifluoro-N,N'-dimethylacetamide moiety as the linker. The cell proliferation assay in vitro against HL-60 and MV4-11 cell lines demonstrated that most series I compounds containing semicarbazide moiety had more potent than Cabozantinib. Furthermore, the enzyme assay showed that compound 12c and 12g were potent FLT3 inhibitors with IC50 values of 312 nM and 384 nM, respectively. Following that, molecular docking analysis was also performed to determine possible binding mode between FLT3 and the target compound.