LAUSR

A series of novel bis-benzothiazole derivatives with head-to-head orientation were designed, synthesized, and evaluated for their anti-proliferative activities on U937, HL60, and HeLa cells. A significant part of the targets exhibited considerable in vitro anticancer activity, and some of them were more potent than the reference 5-FU. Molecular modeling, fluorescence, and viscosimetry studies revealed that these compounds could bind into the minor groove of DNA. Amongst them, the most active compound 7 with IC50 in a range of 6.76 to 8.67 μM against the tested three cell lines, which was 1.46–2.47 and 3.48–4.93 times more potent than 5-FU and Hoechst 33258, respectively, warrant further investigations.