First Example of Catalytic Synthesis of Difurazanohexahydrohexaazapyrenes and in Vitro Study of Their Antitumor Activity

Catalytic method for synthesis of hexahydrohexaazapyrenes bearing two annelated furazan moieties has been successfully developed. Structures of synthesized hexahydrodioxadecaazadicyclopenta­[e,l]­pyrenes have been determined on the basis of NMR data using 2D techniques, MALDI TOF/TOF mass spectrometry, and X-ray analysis. Primary screening of hexahydrodioxadecaazadicyclopenta­[e,l]­pyrenes for cytotoxic activity against the K562, Jurkat, U937, and HeLa tumor cell lines has been performed. Studies on the induction of apoptosis and the effect of the synthesized compounds on the cell cycle have been successfully implemented. The synthesized compounds have been found to induce apoptosis of cancer cells in the K562, Jurkat, U937, and HeLa lines.