Antitumor agents. Part 209: Pheophorbide-a derivatives as photo-Independent cytotoxic agents.

A methanolic crude extract of the plant Garuga pinnata Roxb. (Burseraceae) showed promising cytotoxic activity against a panel of human tumor cell lines in vitro, including KB and its drug-resistant sublines (Ferguson et al. Cancer Res. 1988, 48, 5956). Pheophorbide-a and-b methyl esters (3,4) were isolated as active principles with broad photo-dependent cytotoxic activities in the micromolar range. These findings prompted SAR studies of known and novel pheophorbide-a derivatives as photo-dependent and photo-independent cytotoxic agents. The results showed that zinc-protoporphyrin IX (10), zinc 13(R)-hydroxypheophorbide-a methyl ester (22), and zinc chlorin-e6 trimethyl ester (13) possessed photo-independent cytotoxic activity. Compounds 13 and 22 were the most active cytotoxic agents of the series (mean ED(50) 4.6 +/- 1.0 microM and 5.7 +/- 0.7 microM, respectively) against KB cells incubated in the dark.