Synthesis of 1,4-Dialkoxynaphthalene-Based Imidazolium Salts and Their Cytotoxicity in Cancer Cell Lines

In this study, we designed and synthesized novel 1,4-dialkoxynaphthalene-2-alkyl imidazolium salt (IMS) derivatives containing both 1,4-dialkoxynaphthalene and imidazole, which are well known as pharmacophores. The cytotoxicities of these newly synthesized IMS derivatives were investigated in order to explore the possibility of using them to develop anticancer drugs. It was found that some of the new IMS derivatives showed good cytotoxic activities. In addition, an initial, qualitative structure-activity relationship is presented on the basis of observations of activity changes corresponding to structural changes.