Synthesis of chalcones with methylenedioxypolymethoxy fragments based on plant metabolites and study of their antiproliferative properties.

Natural allylpolyalkoxybenzenes were used to synthesize polyalkoxychalcones featuring various conformations, including β-methyl-substituted S-trans-conformers and tetralone derivatives with restricted S-cis conformation. Antiproliferative antitubulin activity and cyto-toxicity of these compounds were studied using a sea urchin embryo model and human cancer cell lines. S-trans-Restricted chalcone 3y was found to exhibit high activity in the inhibition of cancer cell growth by microtubule destabilization with IC50 = 0.02–0.04 µmol L−1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]