Increased endothelial cell selectivity of triazole-bridged dihalogenated A-ring analogues of combretastatin A–1

The antiproliferative activity on ovarian cancer (SK-OV-3) cells of a series of triazole-bridged combretastatin analogues (37, 38, 40–43) containing dihalogenation of the A-ring is reported, and compared with their trimethoxy analogues (5, 15, 39). It was found that dihalogenation with either bromine or iodine was a tolerated modification when compared to the parent compound combretastatin (CA–4, 1) and had less effect than B-ring modification on potency. These compounds exhibited G2/M arrest, and maintained antitubulin activity. Further assays on human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) demonstrated the potential antivascular effects of these triazoles. Of particular note was a 3,5-diiodo-4-methoxyaryl triazole (43) which had promising 7-fold selectivity for HUVECs over ovarian cancer cells.