Synthesis and structure elucidation of 1-(2,5/3,5-difluorophenyl)-3-(2,3/2,4/2,5/3,4-dimethoxyphenyl)-2-propen-1-ones as anticancer agents

The compounds titled 1-(2,5/3,5-difluorophenyl)-3-(2,3/2,4/2,5/3,4-dimethoxyphenyl)-2-propen-1-ones (1-8) were synthesized via Claisen-Schmidt condensation under basic condition. The chemical structure of the compounds were identified using several spectroscopic techniques such as H-1 nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), C-13 NMR, F-19 NMR, DEPT 90, DEPT 135, COSY, HMBC, and HMQC. Cytotoxic activities of the compounds were investigated towards several human tumour cell lines [gingival carcinoma (Ca9-22), oral squamous cell carcinoma derived from tongue (HSC-2)] and human normal oral cells [gingival fibroblasts (HGF), periodontal ligament fibroblasts (HPLF)]. Most of these compounds presented higher cytotoxicity than reference drug 5-fluorouracil while the compounds 7, [1-(3,5-difluorophenyl)-3-(2,5-dimethoxyphenyl)-2-propen-1-one)], and 2, [1-(2,5-difluorophenyl)-3-(2,4-dimethoxyphenyl)-2-propen-1-one], were presenting the best activity according to potency selectivity expression values. Type of cell death induced by compound 7 in both HSC-2 and Ca9-22 cells was investigated to understand mechanism of action of the compounds. The compound 7 produced cleaved products of PARP and caspase-3 were produced, suggesting the induction of apoptosis as a possible mechanism of action of the compounds characterized via activation of caspase-3 in both human oral squamous cell carcinomas.