Discovery and optimization of novel dual dithiocarbamates as potent anticancer agents

• A series of dual dithiocarbamates were synthesized.
• Most compounds showed significant antiproliferative activities against H460.
• Compound 14m exhibited potent activity against nine types of tumor cells.
• Compound 14m showed excellent antitumor potency in vitro against HepG2 and MCF-7.

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 1 μM. 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 μM. 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.

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