Scutellarin derivatives as apoptosis inducers: Design, synthesis and biological evaluation

To explore novel antitumor agents with high efficiency and low toxicity, a series of NO-donating scutellarin derivatives (14–17) were synthesized and the antiproliferative activities against MCF-7, HCT-116, PC-3 and HepG2 cancer cell lines were assessed. Among them, compound 14b was the strongest with IC50 values of 2.96 μM, 7.25 μM, 0.09 μM and 0.50 μM, respectively, and displayed low toxicity against normal human liver L-O2 cells with an IC50...