Aromatic Linkers Unleash the Antiproliferative Potential of 3-Chloropiperidines Against Pancreatic Cancer Cells

In the present study we describe the synthesis and biological evaluation of a set of bis -3-chloropiperidines (B-CePs) containing rigid aromatic linker structures. A modification of the synthetic strategy also enabled the synthesis of a pilot tris -3-chloropiperidine (Tri-CeP) bearing three reactive chloropiperidine moieties in meta on the aromatic scaffold. The structure-reactivity relationship analysis of B-CePs suggests that the arrangement of the reactive units affects the DNA alkylating activity, while also revealing correlations between the electron density of the aromatic system and the reactivity with biologically relevant nucleophiles, both on isolated DNA and in cancer cells. Interestingly, all aromatic 3-chloropiperidines exhibited a marked cytotoxicity and tropism for 2D and 3D cultures of pancreatic cancer cells. Therefore, the new aromatic 3-chloropiperidines appear to be promising contenders for further development of mustard based anticancer agents aimed at pancreatic cancers.