Benzylidine pregnenolones and their oximes as potential anticancer agents: Synthesis and biological evaluation

• New pregnenolone and benzylidine hybrids screened for their anticancer activity.
• The synthesized analogs possess promising anticancer activity.
• Results are of prime importance for chemical biologists.
• The study provides new insights about therapeutic importance of pregnenolone.
• Provides a platform for design of more efficient analogs.

The present study reveals the anticancer activity of benzylidine pregnenolones and their oxime derivatives. The synthesis of the analogs of both series is very simple and involves aldol condensation in the first step followed by nucleophillic addition of hydroxylamine across carbonyl in the second step. Quantitative yields of more than 80% are obtained in both the steps. All the compounds were tested for their cytotoxic activities against a panel of six human cancer cell lines. Amongst all the compounds of both the series screened for their cytotoxic activity, compound 3e, 3f and 4e are very potent especially against HCT-15 and MCF-7 cancer cell lines.

Figure optionsDownload as PowerPoint slide