A Survey of Synthetic Routes and Antitumor Activities for Benzo[g]quinoxaline-5,10-diones.

Anthracycline antibiotics play an important role in cancer chemotherapy. The need to improve their therapeutic index has stimulated an ongoing search for anthracycline analogs with enhanced properties. This review aims to summarize the common synthetic approaches to benzo[g]quinoxaline-5,10-diones and their uses in heterocyclic chemistry. Because of the valuable biological activities of the 1,4-diazaanthraquinone compounds, a summary of the most promising heterocyclic quinones is provided together with their antitumor properties.