The invention described herein relates to new combretastatin derivatives obtained by total synthesis and having the following general formula:
in which the groups are as defined in the description here below. Said compounds, though chemically related to the structure of cis/trans-combretastatin, do not always bind tubulin, but nevertheless exhibit cytotoxic activity of interest in the oncological field as anticancer and/or antiangiogenic agents.
anticancer activity of a series of new combretastatin derivatives with B-ring modifications. The structure-activityrelationship (SAR) information confirmed the importance of cis-stereochemistry and of a phenolic moiety in B-ring. We selected the benzo[b]thiophene and benzofuran combretastatinanalogues 11 (ST2151) and 13 (ST2179) and their phosphate prodrugs (29 and 30) for their high antitumor activity