Synthesis of diverse novel compounds with anticipated antitumor activities starting with biphenyl chalcone

The chalcone as (E)‐1‐([1,1′‐biphenyl]‐4‐yl)‐3‐(3,4‐dimethoxyphenyl)prop‐2‐en‐1‐one (3) was reacted with various active methylene compounds via Michael addition reaction under different conditions. In one hand, chalcone 3 reacted with isatin and glycine in one pot reaction via 1,3‐dipolar cycloaddition reaction. On the other hand, chalcone 3 was also reacted with different N‐nucleophiles via direct addition on the carbonyl group to award cyclic and/or acyclic products. Meanwhile, the reaction of chalcone 3 with S‐benzylthiuronium chloride afforded the thio‐Michael addition product. Chalcone 3 and 10 novel synthesized compounds were screened against two cell lines (HepG2 and MCF‐7). Among of them, thiosemicarbazone 16, oxime 14 and pyrimidine‐2(1H)‐thione 19 derivatives revealed an excellent activity against both cell lines (IC50 values = 6.79‐12.91 μM), whereas thiosemicarbazone 16 (6.79 ± 0.5 and 7.58 ± 0.6 μM) showed the highest activity.