Design, synthesis and potent cytotoxic activity of novel podophyllotoxin derivatives

Twenty new acyl thiourea derivatives of podophyllotoxin and 4′-demethylepipodophyllotoxin were prepared and screened for their cytotoxicity against four human tumor cell lines, A-549, DU-145, KB, and KBvin. With IC 50 values of 0.098–1.13 μM, compounds 13b , 13c , and 13o displayed much better cytotoxic activity than the control etoposide. Most importantly, 13b and 13o exhibited promising cytotoxicity against the drug resistant tumor cell line KBvin with IC 50 values of 0.098 and 0.13 μM, respectively, while etoposide lost activity completely. Structure–activity relationship (SAR) correlations of the new derivatives have been established. Compounds 13b and 13o merit further development as a new generation of epipodophyllotoxin-derived antitumor clinical trial candidates.