[Studies on antitumor agents II: synthesis and anticancer activity of dehydrogenated carboncyclic analogs of norcantharidin].

In order to search for new compounds with higher anti-cancer activities and lower toxicities, 18 dehydrogenated carboncyclic analogs of norcantharidin, of which 17 are unknown compounds, were designed and synthesized. Preliminary screening results revealed that compound V6, VI1 and VI4 exhibited fairly apparent inhibitory activity against the growth of human-hepatoma cells, Bel-7402, in vitro. The inhibitory rate of VI4 is 52%, almost the same as that of norcantharidin, in the concentration of 0.05 mumol/ml.