Cytotoxic activity of substituted chalcones in terms of molecular electronic properties

Global chemical reactivity descriptors and lipophilicity (logP) were evaluated via density functional theory in order to clarify the structure–cytotoxic activity relationships of substituted chalcones. Stepwise multiple regression was employed to establish correlation between descriptors and cytotoxic activity against three cancer cell lines (HL-60, NALM-6 and WM-115) for 11 compounds. Regression analysis revealed that electrophilicity index and chemical potential significantly contributed in explaining of chalcones cytotoxic potential. Moreover, the established structure–activity relationships based on electronic structure properties allow indicating the substructures responsible for their cytotoxic activity. The study has also been supported by crystallographic data of 2-chloro-2′-hydroxychalcone.