Synthesis and evaluation of antitumor activity of novel 1,4-Naphthoquinone derivatives (IV)

1,4-Naphthoquinones are widely distributed in nature and many clinically important antitumor drugs containing a quinone moiety, such as anthracyclines, mitoxantrones and saintopin, show excellent anticancer activity. In this study, 2- or 6-substituted 5,8-dimethoxy-1,4-naphthoquinone (DMNQ) and 5,8-dihydroxy-1,4-naphthoquinone (DHNQ) derivatives were synthesized, and their cytotoxic activity against L1210 and P388 cancer cells was examined. Their antitumor activity was also assessed in mice bearing S-180 cells in the peritoneal cavity. In comparison with the DMNQ derivatives, the DHNQ derivatives exhibited more potent bioactivities than the DMNQ derivatives against both L1210 and P388 cells in vitro and S-180 cells in vivo. The ED50 values of the DHNQ derivatives against P388 cells were in the range of 0.18-1.81 microg/mL whereas those of the DMNQ derivatives were in the range of 0.26-40.41 microg/mL. The T/C (%) values of the DHNQ derivatives, 8, 17, 18, 19, and 20, were found to be comparable to or even better than that of adriamycin. It was also observed that the 2-substituted derivatives (8, 19, 20) showed better antitumor activity than the 6-substituted derivatives (7, 17, 18) in the mice bearing S-180 cells in the peritoneal cavity.

Synthesis and evaluation of antitumor activity of 2- and 6-[(1,3-benzothiazol-2-yl)aminomethyl]-5,8-dimethoxy-1,4-naphthoquinone derivatives

2- or 6-substituted BZT-N derivatives were synthesized, and their cytotoxic activity against cancer L1210 and SNU-1 cells was examined. The antitumor action was also assessed in mice bearing S-180 cells in peritoneal cavity. In a comparison, it was found that 6-substituted BZT-N derivatives exhibited higher potencies in both bioactivities than 2-substituted BZT-N derivatives against L1210 cells in in vitro and S-180 in vitro tests exception of compound 36. Interestingly, it was observed that 2-substituted compound 36, which has methyl group at R1 position, exhibited a better antitumor activity than 6-substituted compounds against L1210 and SNU-1 in vitro. The ED50 value of 2-substituted compound 36 against L1210 was found to be comparable to the ED50 value of adriamycin and was even better against the solid cancer cell line SNU-1. It was also observed that 2-substituted compound 36 showed better antitumor activity in mice bearing S-180 cells in the peritoneal cavity. The T/C (%) value of 2-substituted compound 36 was similar to that of adriamycin. Quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) tests reveal that the experimental ED50 values against SNU-1 closely correlate with both the calculated HOMO energies (E(HOMO)) and the measured 1H-NMR chemical shift of 3-H (deltaH). The results suggests that a compound having higher E(HOMO) and deltaH values usually should have a lower ED50 (SNU-1) value.

Highly Conjugated Molecules from Dibromonaphthyl Derivatives and 4-Vinylpyridine or 4-Acetoxystyrene by the Heck Reaction

Palladium-catalyzed coupling of 1,6- and 2,6-dibromonaphthyl derivatives with 4-vinylpyridine or 4-acetoxystyrene resulted in mono- and bis-arylvinylation depending on the choice of reaction conditions. For the 1,6-dibromoarenes, the mono-arylvinylated derivative at position-6 was the sole product in the presence of (o-tol)(3)P/Et(3)N. The bis-arylvinylated derivative was the major product, accompanied by a minor product, arylvinylated at position-6 and reduced at position-1, in the presence of (o-tol)(3)P/Et(3)N/MeCN. For the 2,6-dibromoarenes, the bis-arylvinylated derivative was the sole product in the presence of either Ph(3)P or (o-tol)(3)P, if provided with a small volume of Et(3)N/MeCN solvent, and the mono-arylvinylated derivative was the major product with larger solvent volume and higher haloarene ratio. Fluorescence intensities of 2,6-bis-arylvinylated products were 2 to 3 orders of magnitude higher than that of stilbene. Nematic phases, at relatively high temperatures, were observed for some of the rodlike molecules. Shown by (1)H NMR study, at the photostationary state of isomerization, smaller fractions of cis-form were obtained for molecules that exhibited larger fluorescence quantum yields. The results presented here are beneficial to the pursuit of nonlinear optical materials, fluorescent mesogens, photo- and electroactive materials.