Synthesis and Cytotoxicity Evaluation of Dehydroepiandrosterone Derivatives by Iron-Catalyzed Stereoselective Hydroamination

The direct modification of structurally complex natural product dehydroepiandrosterone ( DHEA) through iron-catalyzed direct hydroamination of DHEA with various nitro(hetero)arenes was carried out to afford 5 alpha-arylamino-DHEAs (1-25) in good yields (53-72%). Though as a radical reaction, it features high stereoselectivity, and only the 5 alpha-substituted derivatives were produced. The in vitro antiproliferative activity of these synthesized compounds against the human breast cancer MCF-7 cell was evaluated, showing that most of DHEA analogues possessed the moderate cytotoxic activity. The preliminary structure-activity relationship analysis revealed that the electron-withdrawing groups installed at the para-position of arylamine ring had a great contribution to the improvement of the DHEA's cytotoxic potency. Among them, (4-trifluoromethylaniline)-DHEA (4) displayed the most potent cytotoxicity, with an IC50 value of 19.3 mu M, which was 2.3-fold more active than DHEA.