Synthesis and cytotoxic evaluation of glycosyl derivatives of icaritin

A series of glycosyl alkyl/triazol-linked icaritin derivatives have been designed and synthesised. The target glycosyl derivatives were evaluated for their anticancer activity against three human cancer cell lines. The results of preliminary anticancer tests in vitro revealed that mannose derivatives 10a–10c (100 μM) with different aliphatic chain lengths exhibited increased cytotoxicity against HepG2 and SK-OV-3 cells compared with the parent compound icaritin. The data indicated that the kind of glycosyl groups and linkers affected the anticancer potency significantly. The ADME analysis of derivatives 10a–10c was also performed.