A series of combretastatin A‐4 based chalcones (14a‐l) were designed, synthesized and these compounds examined for inhibitory effects on the proliferation of human lung (A549), breast (MCF‐7), melanoma (A375), and colon (HT‐29) carcinoma cells. Compounds 14b, 14c, 14e, 14h, and 14i (tri/dimethoxy, methyl, and mono/dinitro derivatives) have exhibited the most potent antiproliferative activity with IC50 < 2 μM and the hexa methoxy derivative 14b, the most promising one, which displayed the potent inhibitory activities in MCF‐7 (IC50: 10 nM), A375 (IC50: 12 nM), and A549 (IC50: 65 nM) cell lines, and is 18 times more potent than the CA‐4. Compound 14b represents a new scaffold and the results provide insights into further development of anticancer agents.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.