Design, synthesis, and anti-tumor evaluation of novel symmetrical bis-benzimidazoles.

A novel symmetrical bis-benzimidazole was designed as DNA minor groove binder. Molecular modeling study showed that it could dock into the minor groove of DNA. Several derivatives were synthesized and confirmed by IR, MS, and (1)H NMR. All these novel compounds were screened for cytotoxic activity on SKOV-3, HeLa, and BGC-823 cell lines in vitro. Some compounds showed IC(50)s in the single-digit micromolar range for cytotoxicity in several tumor cell lines.