Synthesis and in vitro antiproliferative activity of novel androst-5-ene triazolyl and tetrazolyl derivatives

A straightforward and reliable method for the regioselective synthesis of steroidal 1,4-disubstituted triazoles and 1,5-disubstituted tetrazoles via copper(I)-catalyzed cycloadditions is reported. Heterocycle moieties were efficiently introduced onto the starting azide compound 3β-acetoxy-16β-azidomethylandrost-5-en-17β-ol through use of the "click" chemistry approach. The antiproliferative activities of the newly-synthesized triazoles were determined in vitro on three human gynecological cell lines (HeLa, MCF7 and A2780) using the microculture tetrazolium assay.