Synthesis of 1-(3′,4′,5′-trimethoxy) phenyl naphtho[2,1b]furan as a novel anticancer agent

3′,4′,5′-Trimethoxy benzoyl-naphthalene 2-O-acetic acid (5) underwent base catalysed intramolecular condensation to yield exclusively 1-(3′,4′,5′-trimethoxy) phenyl naphtho[2,1-b]furan 8. The cyclised product 8 has been characterised by spectroscopy. The product 8 showed significant anticancer activity against human cancer cell lines COLO320DM (colon), CaCO2 (colon) and WRL68 (liver) at 0.7, 0.65 and 0.50 μg/ml concentrations, respectively, in the in vitro MTT assay.