Structure activity relationship studies on C2 side chain substituted 1,1-bis(4-methoxyphenyl)-2-phenylalkenes and 1,1,2-tris(4-methoxyphenyl)alkenes.

1,1-bis(4-Methoxyphenyl)-2-phenylalkenes (1a-9a) and 1,1,2-tris(4-methoxyphenyl)alkenes (1b-9b) with various C2-substituents (H (1a, 1b), methyl (2a, 2b), ethyl (3a, 3b), propyl (4a, 4b), butyl (5a, 5b), 2-cyanoethyl (6a, 6b), 3-cyanopropyl (7a, 7b), 3-aminopropyl (8a, 8b), 3-carboxypropyl (9a, 9b)) were tested for cytotoxic effects on hormone dependent MCF-7 cells. The effects were correlated with agonistic and antagonist properties determined on the MCF-7-2a cell line stably transfected with the plasmid ERE(wtc)luc. We demonstrated that the antiproliferative effects did not result from an interaction with the estrogen receptor (ER). The most cytotoxic compounds 5,5-bis(4-methoxyphenyl)-4-phenylpent-4-enylamine (8a) and 4,5,5-tris(4-methoxyphenyl)pent-4-enyl (8b) showed cytocidal effects without having significant agonistic and antagonistic properties.