Synthesis and anticancer evaluation of furfurylidene 4-piperidone analogs

Recently different series of compounds have been designed that utilize the 1,5-diaryl-3-oxo-1,4-pentadinenyl pharmacophore for the development of novel cytotoxic and anticancer agents. These compounds interact with cellular thiols and thiols are not part of nucleic acids. Hence, these compounds are free from the problem of mutagenicity and carcinogenicity. The Claisen-Schmidt reaction is used for synthesizing furfurylidene analogs in a basic medium. The title compounds were prepared by reacting furfurylidenes with aryl sulfonyl, benzoyl, acroylyl, or acetyl chloride. The resulting synthesized compounds were screened for their in vitro cytotoxic properties by MTT and SRB assays against leukemic and colon cancer cell lines. Acute toxicity was determined by OECD-423 guidelines. The in vivo anticancer activities were evaluated against Ehrlich ascites carcinoma (EAC)-bearing Swiss albino mice. The MTT assay showed that compounds 2d and 3d have significant cytotoxicity against the Molt-4 human cell line as compared to the standard, 5-fluorouracil. In addition, the SRB assay indicated that the compounds 2, 2a, 2d, and 3d showed equipotent cytotoxicity against human leukemia cell lines as compared to the standard, doxorubicin. Compounds 2a and 2d showed significant anticancer activity against EAC in Swiss albino mice. This study revealed the potential of these molecules for further development as anticancer agents.