Synthesis and Antitumor Activities of Dibenzylbutylester Lignans and Their Analogues

A useful synthetic route to dibenzylbutylester lignans was described using piperonal and veratraldehyde as the starting materials. This method involves Stobbe condensation and alkylation reactions to give the skeleton of lignan, then fellowed by transformation of functional groups to get target compounds. By this route, ten dibenzylbutylester lignans were obtained, four of which were natural products. The products were tested against human tumors, and some compounds show better activity against breast cancer cells.