Effect of substituents on benzenesulfonyl motif of 4-phenyl-1-arylsulfonylimidazolidinones for their cytotoxicity

To explore the effect of substituents' on phenyl motif on sulfonyl function of novel anticancer 4-phenyl-1-benzenesulfonylimidazolidinones (1), electron donating or withdrawing substituents were introduced at 3 or 4-position and the analogs were tested against human lung (A549) and colon (HCT-15) cancer cell lines. Quantitative structure activity relationship of the 4-substituted series shows that only STERIMOL L values are well correlated. The increment of substituent's volume enhances the activity against both cell lines. The small substituent at 3-position additionally increases the activity. However naphthyl group in place of phenyl reduces the activity. Therefore the phenyl motif with sterically large substituent at 4-position and small substituent at 3-position may be important for their activity. Integration of these substituents' effects into the structural design led to discover the more potent analog, 4-phenyl-1-(N-acetylindoline-5-sulfonyl) imidazolidinone (1n).