Betulin 1 and its semisynthetic derivatives exhibit a cytotoxic activity toward various cancer cell lines. These compounds are a promising and potential anticancer candidates. A series of betulin derivatives was prepared and tested for the antiproliferative activity in vitro against T47D breast cancer, CCRF/CEM leukemia, HL-60 promyelocytic leukemia, SW707 colorectal, murine P388 leukemia, as well as BALB3T3 normal fibroblasts cell lines. Cisplatin and betulin 1 were used as a reference compounds. Some derivatives of betulin showed a higher cytotoxic activity than the parent compound 1. Two derivatives (5 and 17) were 24-fold potent than betulin 1 against the human promyelocytic leukemia cell line (HL-60), with an IC 50 value of 0.3 µg/mL.

Betulin derivatives containing a 1,2,3-triazole ring possess a wide spectrum of biological activities, including antiviral, anticancer, and antibacterial activity. A series of novel triazoles were prepared by the 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reaction between the alkyne derivatives of betulin and organic azides. The chemical structures of the obtained compounds were defined by 1H and 13C NMR, IR, and high-resolution mass spectrometry (HR-MS) analysis. The target triazoles were screened for their antiviral activity against DNA and RNA viruses. The cytotoxic activity of the obtained compounds 5a–k and 6a–h was determined using five human cancer cell lines (T47D, MCF-7, SNB-19, Colo-829, and C-32) by a WST-1 assay. The bistriazole 6b displayed a promising IC50 value (0.05 μM) against the human ductal carcinoma T47D (500-fold higher potency than cisplatin). The microdilution method was applied for an evaluation of the antimicrobial activity of all of the compounds. The triazole 5e containing a 3′-deoxythymidine-5′-yl moiety exhibited antibacterial activity against two gram-negative bacteria vz. Klebsiella pneumoniae and Escherichia coli (minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) range of 0.95–1.95 μM).

Abstract:Betulin derivatives are a widely studied group of compounds of natural origin due to their wide spectrum of biological activities. This paper describes new betulin derivatives, containing a phosphonate group. The allyl-vinyl isomerization and synthesis of acetylenic derivatives have been reported. Structural identification of products as E and Z isomers has been carried out using 1 H-, 13 C-, 31 P-NMR, and crystallographic analysis. The crystal structure in the orthorhombic space group and analysis of crystal packing contacts for 29-diethoxyphosphoryl-28-cyclopropylpropynoyloxy-lup-20E(29)-en-3β-ol 8a are reported. All new compounds were tested in vitro for their antiproliferative activity against human T47D (breast cancer), , and C32 (melanoma) cell lines.