Chem. J. Chinese Universities ›› 2024, Vol. 45 ›› Issue (4): 20230449.doi: 10.7503/cjcu20230449

• Organic Chemistry • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Catalytic Synthesis of N-methylindopregnenolone Compounds Based on Diosgenin and Their Anti-tumor Activity

DONG Yuan, MA Yangmin(), MA Siyue, SUN Renwei   

  1. Key Laboratory of Chemical Additives for China National Light Industry,College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering. Shaanxi University of Science & Technology,Xi’an 710021,China
  • Received:2023-10-25 Online:2024-04-10 Published:2024-01-26
  • Contact: MA Yangmin E-mail:mym63@sina.com
  • Supported by:
    the National Natural Science Foundation of China(22178205);the Key Research and Development Program of Shaanxi Province, China(2022GY-203);the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation(2022M711994)

Abstract:

The D-ring C16 position of 16-dehydropregnenolone acetate(16-DPA), a precursor of steroidal drugs, was modified using N-methylindole, and the inexpensive catalytic system of ZrCl4-ethyl acetate was employed to synthesize sixteen (3β-acetyloxy-16α-3'-indolopregnenolone compounds) as well as to synthesize six 3β-hydroxy- 16α-3'-indolone pregnenolone derivatives. The method has the advantages of high yield, good stereoselectivity and substrate adaptability. Twenty-two compounds were tested for antitumor activity in triple-negative breast cancer cells (MDA-MB-231) by thiazolyl blue(MTT) assay. The preliminary test results showed that among the 3β-acetoxy- 16α-3'-indolopregnenolone compounds, compounds 6h and 6i had better cancer inhibitory activities against MDA-MB-231 cancer cells with median inhibition concentration (IC50) of 18.07 and 23.22 μmol/L, respectively, whereas all of compounds 7a—7f had better cancer inhibitory activities against MDA-MB-231 cancer cells, among which compound 7e showed the best antitumor activity with an IC50 of 12.50 μmol/L. These compounds provide some references for drug screening.

Key words: 16-Dehydropregnenolone acetate, Pregnenolone, N-methylindole, Anti-tumor activity

CLC Number: 

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