Selective anticancer activity of β-lactams derived from polyaromatic compound.

Currently available anticancer drugs are cytotoxic to normal as well as to neoplastic cells, therefore the synthesis of β-lactams as new and novel anticancer agents is extremely significant. We previously developed synthetic methods for the preparation of β-lactams and anticancer agents resulting from polyaromatic amines. There have also been reports on the synthesis and biological evaluation of novel racemic β-lactams as anticancer agents. In cell cycle analysis, these compounds demonstrated a G2 blockage against sensitive tumor cell lines. In the present study, useful and selective biological activities of chrysene β-lactams are described.