Anti-cancer potential of (1,2-dihydronaphtho[2,1-b]furan-2-yl)methanone derivatives

A series of 1,2-dihydronaphtho[2,1-b]furan derivatives were synthesized by cyclizing 1-(aryl/alkyl(arylthio)methyl)-naphthalen-2-ol and pyridinium bromides in the presence of 1,8-diazabicyclo[5.4.0]undec-7-ene (DBU) in very good yield. The synthesized compounds were evaluated for their anti-proliferative potential against human triple negative MDA-MB-468 and MCF-7 breast cancer cells and non-cancerous WI-38 cells (lung fibroblast cell) using MTT experiments. Among 21 synthesized compounds, three compounds (3a, 3b and 3s) showed promising anti-cancer potential and compound 3b was found to have best anti-proliferative activities based on the results of several biochemical and microscopic experiments.

Keywords: DBU; anti-cancer; anti-proliferative; apoptosis; dihydronaphtho[2,1-b]furan.