Discovery and optimization of novel dual dithiocarbamates as potent anticancer agents

A series of dual dithiocarbamates were synthesized and evaluated for their in-vitro anticancer activities on human non-small cell lung cancer cell line H460. Nine compounds exhibited significant antiproliferative activities with IC50 less than I mu M. Among them, compound 14m showed the highest inhibitory activity against H460 cell and inhibited the growth of nine types of tumor cells with IC50 values less than 1 mu M. It also achieved IC50 of 54 nM and 23 nM against HepG2 and MCF-7 cell lines, respectively. Preliminary structure activity relationship study indicated that: a) when the methyl group (region A) is substituted with benzene rings, ortho substitution on the benzene ring is favored for activity; b) substitution with heterocyclic structures at region A exhibited greater impact on the anti-tumor activity of compounds, in which pyridine ring, thiazole ring, coumarin and benzo[b]thiophene are favored and quinoline ring is the most favored; c) substitution with different amines (region B) also showed marked effect on the activity of compounds and dimethylamine and morpholine are preferred to other tested amines. (C) 2015 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.