Synthesis, crystal structure, spectroscopic properties, DFT calculation and biological activity of 4-chloro-N-(2-(2-nitrophenyl)acetoxy)-N-phenylbenzamide

4-Chloro-N-(2-(2-nitrophenyl)acetoxy)-N-phenylbenzamide was synthesized and characterized by 1H NMR, 13C NMR, MS, IR and X-ray diffraction methods. The structure–property relationship and the antitumor activity based on electrochemical measurements, density functional theory calculations (DFT) and methylthiazolyldiphenyl-tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay were investigated. The crystal structure adopts monoclinic space group P21/n with the unit cell parameters of a = 12.4385(10) Å, b = 6.5036(5) Å, c = 24.7944(19) Å, β = 103.045(9)°, V = 1954.0(3) Å3, Z = 4, and stabilized by π–π conjugation and hydrogen bonding interactions. The observed results of the compound have been compared with theoretical results and it is found that the experimental data show good agreement with calculated values. And the compound had slightly better inhibition than suberoylanilide hydroxamic acid (SAHA) in NCI-H460 cell line as well as the nearly same as SAHA in MCF-7, HCT-116, PC-3, and A549 cell lines.