Design and synthesis of new 7, 8-dimethoxy-α-naphthoflavones as CYP1A1 inhibitors

The flavonoids as inhibitors of CYP1A1 exhibit chemopreventive effects against certain procarcinogens and have been considered as the promising cancer preventive agents. A series of novel 7,8-dimethoxy-α-naphthoflavones as the substrate analogs were designed and prepared. The enzyme assay suggested that all of these new flavones were stronger inhibitors of CYP1A1 than the lead compound a-naphthoflavone. Among the tested ones, 3h showed the most potent inhibitory effects.