Synthesis of combretastatin analogues with their potent anticancer activity

Abstract

There is a growing interest in the development of newer and effective antimitotic agents because cancer is a major public health  burden in both developed and developing countries. Combretastatin, the most powerful antimitotic agent, is isolated from the bark of  the South African Willow tree Combretum caffrum. Combretastatin and its analogues are very powerful antimitotic agents which show  their potential biological activities. A series of combretastatin analogues were synthesized and further evaluated for in-vitro cytotoxic  activity against a panel of human cancer cell lines. Structures of newly synthesized compounds have been confirmed by using different spectral techniques. All compounds were screened, which showed significant activity against particular cell lines. Biological evaluation  of the compounds reflects that all the synthesized compounds show appreciable activity.