Synthesis and in vitro cytotoxicity of naphthalimide polyamine conjugates as antitumor agents

Six naphthalimide polyamine conjugates were synthesized and their structures were confirmed by elemental analysis, ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR and MS.  Antitumor activities were evaluated in vitro using MTT assay on Leukemia cells (K562), human breast cancer cells (MB-231) and prostate cancer cells (Ln cap cell).  The  results showed that most of the six compounds were superior to the control (amonafide), 6d, 6e, and 6f exhibited nice selectivity in a screen of hepatoma cells (BEL-7402) and human normal hepatocytes (QSG-7701).