A series of
cis-restricted 1,5-disubstituted 1,2,3-triazole analogues of combretastatin A-4 (
1) have been prepared. The triazole
12f, 2-methoxy-5-(1-(3,4,5-trimethoxyphenyl)-1
H-1,2,3-triazol-5-yl)aniline, displayed potent cytotoxic activity against several cancer cell lines with IC
50 values in the nanomolar range. The ability of triazoles to inhibit tubulin polymerization has been evaluated, and
12f inhibited tubulin polymerization with IC
50 = 4.8 μM. Molecular modeling experiments involving
12f and the colchicine binding site of
alpha" title="greek small letter
alpha" border="0">,β-tubulin showed that the triazole moiety interacts with β-tubulin via hydrogen bonding with several amino acids.