Skip to main content
Log in

Synthesis and anticancer activity of chalcones derived from vanillin and isovanillin

  • Original Research
  • Published:
Medicinal Chemistry Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

An array of chalcones from vanillin/isovanillin and differently substituted acetophenones were synthesized and assessed for their anticancer activity against A549, MCF7 and MIA PaCa-2 cell lines using MTT assay. Some of the chalcones exhibited good anticancer activity with IC50 values below 10 μM. Compound 5f with IC50 values 5.4 ± 0.7, 10.45 ± 2.15 and 13.0 ± 1.68 µM on MIA PaCa-2, A549 and MCF7, respectively, was more potent than curcumin and hence was analyzed for changes in cell morphology, inhibition of cell migration, mechanism of cell death and arrest of cell cycle progression on MIA PaCa-2 cells.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Abraham DJ, Mehanna AS, Williams S, Cragoe EJ Jr, Woltersdorf W Jr (1986) Design, synthesis and testing of potential antisickling agents. 7. Ethacrynic acid analogues. J Med Chem 32(11):2460–2467

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Agarwal BB, Kumar A, Bharti AC (2003) Anticancer potential of curcumin: preclinical and clinical studies. Anticancer Res 23(1A):363–398

    Google Scholar 

  • Anand P, Kunnumakkara AB, Newman RA, Aggarwal BB (2007) Bioavailability of curcumin: problems and promises. Mol Pharm 4(6):807–818

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Arty IS, Timmerman H, Samhoedi M, Sastrohamidjojo Sugiyanto, Van der Goot H (2000) Synthesis of benzylideneacetophenones and their inhibition of lipid peroxidation. Eur J Med Chem 35(4):449–457

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bai XG, Xu CL, Zhao SS, He HW, Wang YC, Wang JX (2014) Synthesis and cytotoxic evaluation of alkoxylated chalcones. Mol 19(11):17256–17278

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bakht MA, Yar MS, Siddiqui AA, Abdullah MM, Tarazi H, Naffaa MM, Alafeefy AM (2013) Molecular properties prediction, synthesis and diuretic activity of phenoxy acetic acid bearing pyrazolines. Med Chem Res 22(2):916–926

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Corey EJ, Niwa H, Knolle J (1978) Total Synthesis of (S)-12-hydroxy-5,8,14-cis,-10-trans-eicosatetraenoic Acid (Samuelsson’s HETE). J Am Chem Soc 100(6):1942–1943

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Greene TW, Wuts PGM (1999) Protective groups in organic synthesis, 3rd edn. Wiley, New York

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Han YM, Shin DS, Lee YJ, Ismail IA, Hong SH, Han DC, Kwon BM (2011) 2-Hydroxycurcuminiod induces apoptosis of human tumor cells through the reactive oxygen species-mitochondria pathway. Bioorg Med Chem Lett 21(2):747–751

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Juvale K, Pape VF, Wiese M (2012) Investigation of chalcones and benzochalcones as inhibitors of breast cancer resistance protein. Bioorg Med Chem 20(1):346–355

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kamal A, Ramakrishna G, Raju P, Viswanath A, Ramaiah MJ, Balakishan G, Pal-Bhadra M (2010) Synthesis and anti-cancer activity of chalcone linked imidazolones. Bioorg Med Chem Lett 20:4865–4869

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kumari S, Singh R, Walia RK (2014) Synthesis and bioevaluation of 3-(substitutedphenyl)-1-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-2-propen-1-ones and their carbamate derivatives against root-knot nematode (Meloidogyne javanica). Orient J Chem 30(3):1293–1302

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lahtchev KL, Batovska DI, Parushev SP, Ubiyvovk VM, Sibirny AA (2008) Antifungal activity of chalcones: a mechanistic study using various yeast strains. Eur J Med Chem 43(10):2220–2228

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Miyashita M, Yoshikoshi A, Grieco PA (1977) Pyridinium p-toluenesulfonate. A mild and efficient catalyst for the tetrahydropyranylation of alcohols. J Org Chem 42(23):3772–3774

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Prabhakar V, Balasubramanian R, Sathe P, Muralikrishna C, Juvekar A (2014) In vitro anticancer activity of monosubstituted chalcone derivatives. Int J Tumor Ther 3(1):1–9

    Google Scholar 

  • Rao YK, Fang SH, Tzeng YM (2009) Synthesis and biological evaluation of 3′,4′,5′-trimethoxychalcone analogues as inhibitors of nitric oxide production and tumor cell proliferation. Bioorg Med Chem 17(23):7909–7914

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sharma PK, Kumar S, Kumar P, Kaushik P, Sharma C, Kaushik D, Aneja KR (2012) Synthesis of 1-(4-aminosulfonylphenyl)-3,5-diarylpyrazoline derivatives as potential antiinflammatory and antimicrobial agents. Med Chem Res 21:2945–2954

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sharma M, Sharma S, Budhiraja A, Saxena AK, Nepali K, Bedi PM (2014) Synthesis and cytotoxicity studies of 3,5-diaryl-N-acetyl pyrazoline–isatin hybrids. Med Chem Res 23(10):4337–4344

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Tyagi AK, Singh RP, Agarwal C, Chan DC, Agarwal R (2002) Silibinin strongly synergizes human prostate carcinoma DU145 cells to doxorubicin-induced growth Inhibition, G2-M arrest, and apoptosis. Clin Cancer Res 8(11):3512–3519

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Van Luu C, Hung TN, Nga NT, Phong L, Huong LM, Ha TTH, Kim SU, Vu TK (2014) New chalcones containing nucleosides exhibiting in vitro anti-cancer activities. Lett Org Chem 11(7):534–545

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Venkateswararao E, Sharma VK, Lee KC, Sharma N, Park SH, Kim Y, Jung SH (2012) A SAR study on a series of synthetic lipophilic chalcones as inhibitor of transcription factor NF-κβ. Eur J Med Chem 54:379–386

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Vogel S, Barbic M, Jürgenliemk G, Heilmann J (2010) Synthesis, cytotoxicity, anti-oxidative and anti-inflammatory activity of chalcones and influence of A-ring modifications on the pharmacological effect. Eur J Med Chem 45(6):2206–2213

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wang Y, Xiao J, Zhou H, Yang S, Wu X, Jiang C, Zhao Y, Liang D, Li X, Liang G (2011) A novel monocarbonyl analogue of curcumin, (1E,4E)-1,5-bis (2,3-dimethoxyphenyl)penta-1,4-dien-3-one, induced cancer cell H460 apoptosis via activation of endoplasmic reticulum stress signaling pathway. J Med Chem 54(11):3768–3778

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Winter E, Devantier Neuenfeldt P, Chiaradia-Delatorre LD, Gauthier C, Yunes RA, Nunes RJ, Creczynski-Pasa TB, Di Pietro A (2014) Symmetric bis-chalcones as a new type of breast cancer resistance protein inhibitors with a mechanism different from that of chromones. J Med Chem 57(7):2930–2941

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Yamakoshi H, Kanoh N, Kudo C, Sato A, Ueda K, Muroi M, Kon S, Satake M, Ohori H, Ishioka C, Oshima Y, Osada H, Chiba N, Shibata H, Iwabuchi Y (2010) KSRP/FUBP2 is a binding protein of GO-Y086, a cytotoxic curcumin analogue. ACS Med Chem Lett 1(6):273–276

    Article  PubMed Central  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang B, Duan D, Ge C, Yao J, Liu Y, Li X, Fang J (2015) Synthesis of xanthohumol analogues and discovery of potent thioredoxin reductase inhibitor as potential anticancer agent. J Med Chem 58:1795–1805

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The authors thank Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB), Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India, for funding the project. Also we thank Ms. G. Anjana for helpful discussions during the manuscript preparation. The authors thank CRF, Sri Ramachandra University for NMR facility.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Ganesh Venkatraman or Krishna Kumari Gadepalli Narasimha.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors hereby declare that there is no conflict of interest.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Raghavan, S., Manogaran, P., Kalpattu Kuppuswami, B. et al. Synthesis and anticancer activity of chalcones derived from vanillin and isovanillin. Med Chem Res 24, 4157–4165 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00044-015-1453-2

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00044-015-1453-2

Keywords

Navigation