Design, Synthesis and Antitumor Activity of Novel 4-Methyl-(3'S,4'S)-cis-khellactone Derivatives

An asymmetric synthesis of a series of novel 4-methyl-(3'S,4'S)-cis-khellactone derivatives3a–ois reported for the first time. Their structures were confirmed by1H-NMR,13C-NMR and MS. Their cytotoxic activity was evaluated by the MTT assay against three selected human cancer cell lines: HEPG-2 (human liver carcinoma), SGC-7901 (human gastric carcinoma), LS174T (human colon carcinoma). Some compounds showed high inhibitory activity against these human cancer cell lines. Among them, compound3aexhibited strong cytotoxicity, with IC50values ranging from 8.51 to 29.65 μM. The results showed that 4-methyl-cis-khellactone derivatives withS,Sconfiguration could be a potential antitumor agents.Keywords:4-methyl-(3'S,4'S)-cis-khellactone derivatives;asymmetric synthesis;antitumor activity