New antitumour agents with α,β-unsaturated δ-lactone scaffold: Synthesis and antiproliferative activity of (-)-cleistenolide and analogues.

A stereoselective total synthesis of (-)-cleistenolide (1) from d-glucose has been achieved. This new approach for the synthesis of (-)-cleistenolide and analogues involves a one-C-atom degradation of the chiral precursor, (Z)-selective Wittig olefination, followed by the final δ-lactonisation. Synthesized compounds showed potent growth inhibitory effects against selected human tumour cell lines, especially 2,4,6-trichlorobenzoyl derivative 12, which in the culture of MDA-MB 231 cells displayed the highest activity (IC50 0.02μM) of all compounds under evaluation. A preliminary SAR study reveals the structural features that are beneficial for antiproliferative activity of synthesized δ-lactones, such as presence of either electron-withdrawing or electron-donating substituents in the aromatic ring, as well as the presence of cinnamoyl functionality instead of benzoyl group at the O-7 position.