Synthesis and biological evaluation of Combretastatin A-4 derivatives containing a 3’-O-substituted carbonic ether moiety as potential antitumor agents

摘要

Background Combretastatin A-4 (CA-4), which is an excellent antineoplastic agent, was isolated from Combretum caffrum. To date, structural modification studies of CA-4 have focused predominantly on the construction of new therapeutic agents for drug discovery. As a part of our ongoing work towards the modification of natural products, we have focused on the 3鈥?O-substituent groups in the B-ring of CA-4 under the hypothesis that these novel derivatives will possess good bioactivities and behave as effective antiproliferative pro-drugs.