Antiestrogenic Activity and Possible Mode of Action of Certain New Nonsteroidal Coumarin-4-acetamides

The preparation of certain 2-(2-oxo-2H-chromen-4-yl)-N-substituted acetamides IIIa–h was planned as a step in the development of new modified nonsteroidal antiestrogens. The purity of target compounds IIIa–h was checked by thin-layer chromatography (TLC), and their structures were confirmed using various spectroscopic tools including IR, (1)H-NMR, (13)C-NMR, and MS spectroscopy. Viability tests were applied using 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay to evaluate the cytotoxic effect of the synthesized compounds against two breast cancer cell lines, MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231. Compound IIIb proved the most active against MCF-7 cells, with an IC(50) value of 0.32 μM. The results of an analysis of in vitro antiestrogenic activity indicated that only compound IIIb exhibited antiestrogenic activity; its IC(50) value of 29.49 μM was about twice as potent as that of the reference compound, MIBP. The aromatase activity was evaluated for the synthesized target compounds IIIa–g and the intermediates Ib and IIa. A significant aromatase inhibition was observed for the intermediate Ib and compound IIIe, with IC(50) values of 14.5 and 17.4 μM, respectively. Compound IIIb, namely 7-methoxy-4-(2-oxo-2-(piperidin-1-yl)ethyl)-2H-chromen-2-one, could be used as an antiestrogen and/or cytotoxic agent with selective activity against tumor cells.