Design, Synthesis and Biological Evaluation of Hybrid Molecules Containing Conjugated Styryl Ketone and α-Bromoacryloyl Moieties

There was a major interest in the last years in the design of anticancer agents containing the 1,5-diaryl-3-oxo- 1,4-pentadienyl system. The modification of this pharmacophore by the introduction of an additional Michael acceptor represents a strategy to obtain novel potential antiproliferative agents. In a continuing study of hybrid compounds containing the α-bromoacryloyl moiety as potential anticancer drugs, we synthesized two novel series of hybrids 3a-i and 4a-i, in which this moiety was linked to the 1,5-diaryl-1,4-pentadien-3-one system. Many of the conjugates prepared (3b, 3c and 3g) demonstrated pronounced antiproliferative activity against five cancer cell lines, being more active than the reference compound Melphalan. Compounds 3e and 4b were also examined for their effects on the cell cycle progression of K562 cells. The detection of a sub-G1 peak upon incubation with these compounds suggested that 3e and 4b also exert their growth inhibiting effects by induction of apoptosis.