Solid phase-assisted synthesis and screening of a small library of N-(4-hydroxyphenyl)retinamide (4-HPR) analogs

Using solid phase-assisted synthesis and purification, a 49 member library of analogs of the mammary tumor chemopreventive retinoid N-(4-hydroxyphenyl)retinamide (4-HPR) has been prepared. After prescreening for growth inhibitory activity in human mammary tumor cells (MCF-7) in culture, most of those analogs which showed activity (12 of them) were assayed for apoptosis-inducing activity in the MCF-7 cells. At least 3 of the analogs (13, 24, and 28) showed activity approaching that of 4-HPR.