Design, synthesis, and anti-tumor activities of novel triphenylethylene-coumarin hybrids, and their interactions with Ct-DNA

Novel triphenylethylene-coumarin hybrid derivatives containing different amounts of amino side chains were designed and synthesized in good yields under microwave radiation. The derivatives 5b-d which possessed two amino side chains (except morpholinyl) showed a broad-spectrum and good anti-proliferative activity against five tumor cells and low cytotoxicity in osteoblast. UV-vis, fluorescence, and circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopies and thermal denaturation exhibited that compounds 10c, 5c, and 13c bearing amino side chain (except morpholinyl) on 4-phenyl had significant interactions with Ct-DNA by the intercalative mode of binding. Structure-activity relationships (SARs) analysis suggested that the amino alkyl chain would play an important role both in the compounds against tumor cells proliferation and their interactions with DNA.