Novel natural product-based cinnamates and their thio and thiono analogs as potent inhibitors of cell adhesion molecules on human endothelial cells

► Designing and synthesis of novel analogs of cinnamic acid esters. ► Structure-activity study revealed that ETMTC as most potent inhibitor of ICAM-1. ► ETMTC abrogated TNF-α induced adhesion of neutrophils to the endothelial monolayer. ► ETMTC could be useful as a lead molecule for developing anti-inflammatory drugs.