Synthesis and cytotoxicity studies of artemisinin derivatives containing lipophilic alkyl carbon chains

Cytotoxic artermisinin derivatives have been synthesized by a modular approach of '' artemisinin + linker + lipophilic alkyl carbon chain ''. A strong correlation between the length of the carbon chains and the cytotoxicities against human hepatocellular carcinoma (HepG2) was revealed. Notably, compared with artemisinin (IC50 = 97 mu M), up to 200-fold more potent cytotoxicity (IC50 = 0.46 mu M) could be achieved by attachment of a C14H29 carbon chain to artemisinin via an amide linker.