A library of 1,2,3-triazole-substituted oleanolic acid derivatives as anticancer agents: design, synthesis, and biological evaluation

A series of novel oleanolic acid coupled 1,2,3-triazole derivatives have been designed and synthesized by employing a Cu(I) catalyzed Huisgen 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reaction. The anti-proliferative evaluation indicated that some compounds exhibited excellent anti-cancer activity against the examined cancer cell lines. Among all derivatives, compound 3t possesses the best inhibitory activity against HT1080 cells. A series of pharmacology experiments show that compound 3t significantly induced HT1080 cell apoptosis. Therefore, this compound can serve as a promising lead candidate for further study.