Novel benzofuran–chromone and –coumarin derivatives: synthesis and biological activity in K562 human leukemia cells

Not widely distributed in nature, aurones, (Z)-2-benzylidene-benzofuran-3(2H)-ones, are one of the less common and lesser-known representatives of a flavonoid subclass. Nevertheless, they exhibit a strong and broad variety of biological activities. We have combined the benzofuranone part of a classical aurone with either a chromone or a coumarin scaffold which proved to feature interesting biological activities including antimicrobial, antiviral, anticancer, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. Herein we present a series of 26 novel benzofuran derivatives with the first biological results in K562 human leukemia cells showing that compounds 21b, 29b and 29c are able to induce around 24% apoptosis.