Diarylidenecyclopentanone derivatives as potent anti-inflammatory and anticancer agents

Cancer is often associated with chronic inflammation. In order to develop potential anticancer and anti-inflammatory agents a series of 26 diarylidenecyclopentanones ( DACP s) Ia–Iv , II , III , and IV were synthesized. Five of the synthesized DACP s are novel ( Ih , Ij , Ik , Is , and Iv ), derivative Iv was characterized using single-crystal X-ray diffraction study. All the synthesized derivatives were tested for their anti-inflammatory as well as cytotoxicity properties. Compound Is is found to have the highest anti-inflammatory activity (93.67%) by inhibiting PGE 2 (prostaglandin E 2 ) production. Three of the DACP s ( Io , It , and Iu ) were observed to have high cytotoxicity with IC 50 value of 8.73 ± 0.06 µM ( Io ), 12.55 ± 0.31 µM ( It ), and 11.47 ± 0.15 µM ( Iu ) against HeLa cells. Further staining and cell cycle analysis was done using these three DACP s to understand their mechanism of action. The G 0 /G 1 phase was observed to be the longest one through which the cells undergo apoptosis.