TFA-mediated stereoselective aza-Michael addition for the synthesis of 3β-arylamine derivatives of withaferin A and evaluation of their anticancer potential.

A simple and efficient protocol for the aza-Michael addition of various aromatic anilines to ring A of withaferin A has been developed. Stereoselectivity, functional group tolerance, broad substrate scope, short reaction time and moderate to high yield are the merits of the protocol. One of the synthesized compounds 11 shows an IC 50 value of 3.8 μM against aggressive, highly metastatic triple-negative breast cancer cell line MDA-MB-231.
Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest 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.
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