Design and synthesis of novel anti-cancer curcumin derivatives: Investigation of anti-cancer properties against HepG2 cell line

Abstract

The new anti-cancer and water-soluble curcumin derivatives have been synthesized solvent-freely by functionalizing the phenolic group of curcumin with various NH compounds to increase water solubility and cancerous properties. The biological applications of the new drugs have been investigated against the highly potent HepG2 carcinoma cell line. The studies showed that new curcumin derivatives could be used in low concentrations (µM/l<1) to avoid the anti-apoptotic properties against the cancerous cell. Also, the designed molecules with concentrations below 1 µM/l showed a good percentage of viability of 31.5, 45.3, and 66.7% against HepG2 cells. Furthermore, FTIR and 1H, and 13CNMR spectroscopy fully characterized the new curcumin derivatives.