Cytotoxic activities of mono and bis Mannich bases derived from acetophenone against Renca and Jurkat cells.

Mannich bases of acetophenones have been disclosed to have antitumour and cytotoxic activities. 1-Phenyl-3-dimethylaminopropan-1-one hydrochloride, 1, and related piperidino, 2, and morpholino, 3, derivatives, and compound 4, which is a quaternary form of 1, were synthesized as mono Mannich bases derived from acetophenone. They were converted to corresponding bis Mannich bases, 5-8, to see whether it increases the bioactivity. The biological activity of the compounds was examined by cytotoxicity against mouse renal carcinoma (Renca) and transformed human T-lymphocyte (Jurkat) cell lines. Conversion of mono Mannich bases to corresponding bis Mannich bases remarkably increased the cytotoxicity in most cases. Quaternization procedure also improved the bioactivity in mono derivatives against Jurkat cells. Bis mannich bases 5-7 were found to be more active than 5-fluorouracil (6-23 fold) and melphalan (1.25-5 fold) against Renca cells. Except 2 and 8, the compounds synthesised were found to be more active than 5-fluorouracil (1.2-33 fold) against Jurkat cells.