Synthesis of novel 3-arylated 2-hydroxy-1,4-naphthoquinone derivatives via microwave-assisted three-component domino reaction and evaluation of their cytotoxic activity

Synthesis of novel 3-arylated 2-hydroxy-1,4-naphthoquinone derivatives via microwave-assisted three-component reaction starting from 2-hydroxy-1,4-naphthoquinone, tetronic acid, and various aromatic aldehydes has been described. This multicomponent domino reaction proceeded through the Knoevenagel condensation, Michael addition, deprotonation, and 1,3-H shift steps. Five of the synthesized compounds displayed good cytotoxic activity against two human cancer cell lines, KB and HepG2, with half maximal inhibitory concentration values in a range of 4–20 μM.