New analogues of amonafide and elinafide, containing aromatic heterocycles: synthesis, antitumor activity, molecular modeling, and DNA binding properties

Amonafide- and elinafide-related mono and bisintercalators, modified by the introduction of a pi-excedent furan or thiophene ring fused to the naphthalimide moiety, have been synthesized. These compounds have shown an interesting antitumor profile. The best compound, 9, was 2.5-fold more potent than elinafide against human colon carcinoma cells (HT-29). Molecular dynamic simulations and physicochemical experiments have demonstrated that these compounds are capable of forming stable DNA complexes. These results, together with those previously reported by us for imidazo- and pyrazinonaphthalimide analogues, have prompted us to propose that the DNA binding process does not depend on the electronic nature of the fused heterocycle.