Naphthalene substituted benzo[c]coumarins: Synthesis, characterization and evaluation of antibacterial activity and cytotoxicity

Abstract

Novel congeners of naphthalene substituted benzo[c]coumarins (2a-f) were synthesized by reaction of various 3-coumarinoyl methyl pyridinium bromide salts (1a-d) with a selected set of acetyl naphthalene in the presence of sodium acetate in refluxing glacial acetic acid. Structures of the synthesized compounds were confirmed by elemental analysis and by various spectroscopic techniques such as 1H-NMR, 13C-NMR, DEPT, and MS spectral data. Synthesised compounds were screened for antibacterial activity and cytotoxicity against different human cancer cell lines including cervix cancer (HeLa), breast cancer (MCF-7) and lung cancer (A549) using tetrazolium dye 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) cell viability assay. Although with varying degrees, a significant growth inhibitory and cytotoxic effects were observed on all three cancer cell lines. Compounds 2b and 2e showed significant growth inhibitory and cytotoxicity against aforementioned cancer cell lines.