By synthesis and biological studies of new naphthalene analogues of combretastatins, we have found that the naphthalene is a good surrogate for the isovanillin moiety (3-hydroxy-4-methoxyphenyl) of combretastatin A-4, always generating highly cytotoxic analogues when combined with the 3,4,5-trimethoxyphenyl or related systems. On the other hand, when the naphthalene replaces the 3,4,5-trimethoxyphenyl moiety, the cytotoxic activity is largely decreased. The most cytotoxic naphthalene analogues of combretastatins, which also produce inhibition of tubulin polymerization, exerted their antimitotic effects through microtubule network disruption and subsequent G(2)/M arrest of the cell cycle in human cancer cells.

No abstract

A new family of polyoxygenated stilbenophanes has been synthesized as conformationally restricted analogues of antimitotic combretastatins. By means of the McMurry olefination process, compounds derived from diethyleneglycol and 1,6-hexanediol were obtained, whereas Grubbs' catalyst failed in producing the ring-closing metathesis to this kind of macrocyclic products.

No abstract