Abstract
A series of structurally modified curcumol derivatives at C-8 position were designed and synthesized, whose structures were confirmed by 1H NMR,13C NMR, and HRMS analysis. The tested compounds were evaluated for in vitro antitumor activity against colorectal cancer cell lines SW620, HCT116, and CaCo2. Many of the tested candidates exhibited higher inhibition efficiency than curcumol. Among them, compound 3 l shows the best inhibitory effect on the viability of SW620 with IC50 value of 19.90 ± 0.64 µM. The structure-activity relationships of these derivatives were discussed, which showed that the introduction of amino or aryl groups tended to increase the anti-cancer activity. In addition, compound 3 l may inhibit cancer cell proliferation through triggering cell apoptosis.
Graphical Abstract
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Disclosure statement
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.