D-ring substituted 1,2,3-triazolyl 20-keto pregnenanes as potential anticancer agents: Synthesis and biological evaluation

Abstract A facile synthesis of 21-triazolyl derivatives of pregnenolone and their potential antitumour activity is reported. The scheme involves the transformation of the starting pregnenolone acetate into pregnenolone, conversion of pregnenolone to 21-bromo pregnenolone and finally the one-pot, two-step in situ conversion of the bromo derivative to the 21-triazolyl pregnenolone using the ‘click chemistry’ approach. These derivatives were screened for their anticancer activity against seven human cancer cell lines. The compounds especially 5a , 5b , 5c , 5e , 5g and 5h exhibited significant anticancer activity with compound 5e as the most active in this study.