Combretastatin A-4: The Antitubulin Agent that Inspired the Design and Synthesis of Styrene and Spiroisatin Hybrids as Promising Cytotoxic, Antifungal and Antiviral Compounds

The design of a series of styrene and spiroisatin hybrids was based on the structure of combretastatin A-4 1. This library of 20 compounds were synthesized with the pharmacophoric units: 3,4,5-trimethoxy or/and 4-hydroxy-3-methoxy phenyl moities in their structure. Thereby, the libraries of β-nitrostyrenes 10a-10c, spiroisatin-dihydroquinolines 14a-14c, spiroisatin-thiazolidinones 17a-17c and spiroisatin-nitropyrrolizidines 20a-20k were evaluated for their in vitro cytotoxic, anti-proliferative, antifungal and antiviral activities. Biological results revealed that among these compounds, β-ni...