Synthesis and cytotoxic activity of benzo[a]pyrano[3,2-h] and [2,3-i]xanthone analogues of psorospermine, acronycine, and benzo[a]acronycine.

Condensation of 2-hydroxy-1-naphthalenecarboxylic acid with phloroglucinol afforded 9,11-dihydroxy-12H-benzo[a]xanthen-12-one (6). Construction of an additional dimethylpyran ring onto this skeleton, by alkylation with 3-chloro-3-methyl-1-butyne followed by Claisen rearrangement, gave access to 6-hydroxy-3,3-dimethyl-3H,7H-benzo[a]pyrano[3,2-h]xanthen-7-one (12) and 5-hydroxy-2,2-dimethyl-2H,6H-benzo[a]pyrano[2,3-i]xanthen-6-one (13), which were methylated into 6-methoxy-3,3-dimethyl-3H,7H-benzo[a]pyrano[3,2-h]xanthen-7-one (14) and 5-methoxy-2,2-dimethyl-2H,6H-benzo[a]pyrano[2,3-i]xanthen-6-one (15), respectively. Osmium tetroxide oxidation of 14 and 15 gave the corresponding (+/-)-cis-diols 16 and 17, which afforded the corresponding esters 18-21 upon acylation. Similarly, condensation of 2-hydroxy-1-naphthalenecarboxylic acid with 3,5-dimethoxyaniline gave 11-amino-9-methoxy-12H-benzo[a]xanthen-12-one (23) which was converted into 11-amino-9-hydroxy-12H-benzo[a]xanthen-12-one (24) upon treatment with hydrogen bromide in acetic acid. Alkylation with 3-chloro-3-methyl-1-butyne followed by Claisen rearrangement afforded 6-amino-3,3-dimethyl-3H,7H-benzo[a]pyrano[3,2-h]xanthen-7-one (25) and 5-amino-2,2-dimethyl-2H,6H-benzo[a]pyrano[2,3-i]xanthen-6-one (26). The new benzopyranoxanthone derivatives only displayed marginal antiproliferative activity when tested against L1210 and KB-3-1 cell lines. The only compounds found significantly active against L1210 cell line, 16 and 20, belong to the benzo[a]pyrano[3,2-h]xanthen-7-one series, which possess a pyran ring fused angularly onto the xanthone basic core.