Recognition of Pharmacophore of ar-Turmerone for its Anticancer Activity

For the evaluation of the role of .alpha., .betha.-unsaturated ketone portion of ar-tumerone for its activity, the structural variation of this structural unit was performed to omit its alkylating propery. Thus compounds 2, 3, and 4 were prepared and their cytotoxicities were determined against three different leukemiz cell lines (HL-60, K-562, and $L_{1210})$ in vitro. The biological inactivity against three different cell lines of these analogues implies that the $\alpha, \beta$-unsaturated ketone of ar-tumerone is the essential pharmacophore for its activity.