Benzochromenopyrimidines: Synthesis, Antiproliferative Activity against Colorectal Cancer and Physicochemical Properties.

Ten new differently substituted 3-benzyl-5-aryl-3,5-dihydro-4 H -benzo[6,7]chromeno[2,3- d ]pyrimidin-4,6,11-triones 3 were synthesized by a simple and cost-efficient procedure in a one-pot, three-component reaction from readily available ethyl 2-amino-4-aryl-5,10-dioxo-5,10-dihydro-4 H -benzo[ g ]chromene-3-carboxylates, benzylamine and triethyl orthoformate under solvent- and catalyst-free conditions. All the new compounds were screened for their antiproliferative activity against two colorectal-cancer-cell lines. The results showed that the compounds 3-benzyl-5-phenyl-3,5-dihydro-4 H -benzo[6,7]chromeno[2,3- d ]pyrimidine-4,6,11-trione ( 3a ) and 3-benzyl-5-(3-hydroxyphenyl)-3,5-dihydro-4 H -benzo[6,7]chromeno[2,3- d ]pyrimidine-4,6,11-trione ( 3g ) exhibited the most potent balanced inhibitory activity against human LoVo and HCT-116 cancer cells.