ISSN: 0975 -8542 Journal of Global Pharma Technology Available Online at: www.jgpt.co.in RESEARCH ARTICLE ©2009-2019, JGPT. All Rights Reserved 1 Synthesis, Characterization and Preliminary Cytotoxic Study of Sinapic Acid and its Analogues Yasser Fakri Mustafa Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, College of Pharmacy/University of Mosul-41002, Mosul, Iraq. Abstract The use of natural products to treat human diseases especially cancer is an interesting trend in pharmaceutical research. Sinapic acid, being a member of hydroxycinnamic acid family and having well- established pharmacological properties, could have a potential antitumor activity that has not been investigated sufficiently. This work aimed to test the preliminary cytotoxic effect of sinapic acid and nine of its synthesized analogues utilizing MTT assay on four cancer cell lines; which are: HeLa, AMN3, SKG, and MCF-7. The chemical structures of the intermediates and of the synthesized products were approving by analyzing their IR, 1 H-NMR, 13 C-NMR, and MS-ESI spectra. Results of the cytotoxicity study indicated that sinapic acid analogues 3a, 3c, 3d, 3e and 3h have lower IC50 values than that of positive control on the tested cancer cell lines, while sinapic acid itself and the other synthesized analogues did not have such cytotoxic effect. Keywords: Sinapic acid, Analogues, Gastrodigenin, MTT, Cytotoxicity. Introduction Cancer is a foxy disease that can start and progress without any warning. This, combined with the difficulty of its treatment, makes cancer a serious global health problem that can strike anyone at any time [1]. Cancer is a condition in which the cellular monitoring of apoptosis is lost leading to uncontrolled proliferation of cells. This results in the formation of neoplastic tumor that starts benign until its progression to the malignancy as it metastasizes to other tissues or organs [2].Utilization of natural products for management of various human disorders including cancer became an interesting area of research in the last decades [3]. Phytochemicals with antitumor activity can exert their effect through different mechanisms such as induction of apoptosis, inhibition of topoisomerase I or II, and modification of cellular metabolism [4].Phenolic compounds are a group of key secondary metabolites found mainly in the plant kingdom and they have a wide spectrum of physiological activities [5]. One of the most interesting classes of such compounds is a hydroxycinnamic acids family, to which sinapic, p-coumaric, ferulic, vanillic and caffeic acids belong [6]. Sinapic acid (Figure 1) is frequently found in human diet because of its high prevalence in many vegetables (e.g. white onion), fruits (e.g. lemon), cereal grains (e.g. rice) and herbs (e.g. borage). Like other members of its family, sinapic acid is naturally found in the free form or as a glycoside [7]. HO OCH 3 H 3 CO COOH 3,5-dimethoxy-4-hydroxycinnamic acid Fig. 1: Chemical structure of sinapic acid