Natural products based crown ethers: synthesis and their anticancer potential.

Natural products based novel crown ethers have been prepared by employing biologically active natural structures including tetrahydroisoquinoline, chrysin and biochanin-A as the side arms. The resulting crown scaffolds were evaluated for their anticancer potential against two cancer cell lines i.e. NCI-H460 (non-small lung carcinoma), MCF-7 (breast adenocarcinoma). The comparative study showed that the addition of crown scaffold put marked effects on antiproliferative profile of parent natural precursors and is significant for lung carcinoma in particular. Biochanin-A derived crown ether showed three (03) folds higher antiproliferative activity (IC50 = 6.08 ± 0.07 µM) against lung carcinoma as compared to standard drug cisplatin (IC50 = 19.00 ± 1.24 µM). Cytotoxic trends for NIH-3T3 cell lines were also examined and found reduced as compared to parent natural structures. Hence, these findings could open a new pathway towards developing effective carcinostatic drugs.HIGHLIGHTSFour natural products based novel crown ethers have been developed.Comparative antiproliferative screening of crown ethers and natural precursors.Addition of crown showed marked effects on anticancer profile of natural products.Crown formation is significant for lung carcinoma potential in particular.Biochanin-A derived crown ether found three folds more active than standard drug.

Antioxidant Activity and Volatile and Phenolic Profiles of Essential Oil and Different Extracts of Wild Mint (Mentha longifolia) from the Pakistani Flora.

The antioxidant activity and free radical scavenging capacity of the essential oil and three different extracts of wildly grown Mentha longifolia (M. longifolia) were studied. The essential oil from M. longifolia aerial parts was isolated by hydrodistillation technique using Clevenger-type apparatus. The extracts were prepared with three solvents of different polarity (n-hexane, dichloromethane, and methanol) using Soxhlet extractor. Maximum extract yield was obtained with methanol (12.6 g/100 g) while the minimum with dichloromethane (3.50 g/100 g). The essential oil content was found to be 1.07 g/100 g. A total of 19 constituents were identified in the M. longifolia oil using GC/MS. The main components detected were piperitenone oxide, piperitenone, germacrene D, borneol, and ß -caryophyllene. The total phenolics (TP) and total flavonoids (TF) contents of the methanol extract of M. longifolia were found to be significantly higher than dichloromethane and hexane extracts. The dichloromethane and methanol extracts exhibited excellent antioxidant activity as assessed by 2,2'-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical scavenging ability, bleaching ß -carotene, and inhibition of linoleic acid peroxidation assays. The essential oil and hexane extract showed comparatively weaker antioxidant and free radical scavenging activities. The results of the study have validated the medicinal and antioxidant potential of M. longifolia essential oil and extracts.