Synthesis and biological evaluation of hydrophilic embelin derivatives

In continuance of our search for newer anti-cancer agents we were interested on embelin, a XIAP (X-linked inhibitor of apoptosis protein) inhibitor. This natural benzoquinone bear a lipophilic chain and we report here the synthesis of hydrophilic analogues of embelin. To allow a large flexibility in the nature of the hydrophilic group, three amines with different length of carbon chain bearing a protected benzoquinone were prepared. The cytotoxic effects of these derivatives were evaluated on KB cell line.