Discovery of novel 2-phenyl-imidazo[1,2-a]pyridine analogues targeting tubulin polymerization as antiproliferative agents.

A series of 2-aryl-imidazo-pyridines/pyrazines derivatives has been designed, synthesized and evaluated for their biological activities. Among them, several investigated compounds (1a, 3b and 3d) displayed potent antiproliferative activity against HeLa cell, and also displayed comparable tubulin polymerization inhibitory activity to colchicine. These studies provided a new molecular scaffold for the further development of antitumor agents that target tubulin.