Design, synthesis, and biological evaluation of Mannich bases of heterocyclic chalcone analogs as cytotoxic agents

Abstract The chalcone skeleton (1,3-diphenyl-2-propen-1-one) is a unique template that is associated with various biological activities. We synthesized Mannich bases of heterocyclic chalcones ( 9 – 47 ) using a one-step Claisen–Schmidt condensation of heterocyclic aldehydes with Mannich bases of acetophenones, and tested the target compounds for cytotoxicity against three human cancer cell lines (prostate, PC-3; breast, MCF-7; nasopharynx, KB) and a multi-drug resistant subline (KB-VIN). Out of the 39 chalcones synthesized, 31 compounds showed potent activity against at least one cell line with IC 50 values ranging from 0.03 to 3.80 μg/mL. Structure–activity relationships (SAR) are also discussed.