| Abstract: | Series of 3-dimethylamino-1-aryl-1-propanone hydrobromides (IV) and 3-dimethylamino-2-dimethylaminomethyl-1-aryl-1-propanone dihydrobromides (V) were synthesized. Evaluation of these derivatives against P-388 lymphocytic leukemia growth revealed that two compounds show promise as antineoplastic agents. Compounds of the V series were unstable in phosphate buffer (in contrast to series IV), and when the same nuclear substituent was present in both series of compounds, V was approximately 100 times more active than IV in both the stimulation and inhibition of respiration of mitochondria isolated from rat liver cells. Representatives from both series showed that respiration in mitochondria was affected by changing the pH of the aqueous buffer from 7.4 to 6.9 or 6.4 and by reducing the temperature from 37 degrees to 20 degrees. The compounds showed reactivity toward a biomimetic thiol. |
