Synthesis and Cytotoxicity of N-Substituted Dibenzo[a,j]xanthene-3,11-dicarboxamide Derivatives

Abstract

In order to study the structure-activity relationships of xanthene derivatives, four series of <i>N</i>-substituted 14-aryl-14<i>H</i>-dibenzo[<i>a</i>,<i>j</i>]xanthene-3,11-dicarboxamide derivatives were synthesized. The structures of all compounds were identified by ¹H-NMR, HR-MS and IR spectra, in which compounds 6a-h were further identified by ¹³C-NMR spectra. The in vitro antitumor activity of the synthesized compounds was tested by MTT assay. Most of them displayed strong inhibitory activity on human hepatocellular carcinoma cell lines (SK-HEP-1, HepG2 and SMMC-7721 cells) and acute promyelocytic leukemia NB4 cells. Compounds <b>6c</b>-<b>6e</b> exhibited significant inhibitory activity against NB4 cells with IC₅₀ values of 0.52 μM and 0.76 μM, respectively, much lower than 5.31 μM of the positive control As₂O₃.