Synthesis and antitumor activity of nitrogen mustard derivatives of formononetin

A series of formononetin nitrogen mustard derivatives were designed and synthesized.Their in vitro cytotoxicity against SH-SY5Y(human neuroblastoma cell line),HCT-116(human colon cancer cell line),DU-145 (human prostate carcinoma cell line),HeLa(human cervical carcinoma cell line) and SGC-7901(human gastric cancer cell line) was evaluated by standard MTT assay.It was found that many of the derivatives displayed significant antitumor activity,and most of the compounds showed more potent antitumor activity than that of formononetin.