Synthesis of some chalcone derivatives, in vitro and in silico toxicity evaluation

Chalcone can be synthesized using some methods, but conventional Claisen-Schmidt condensation is still the best method. The objevtives of this study were to synthesize some chalcone derivatives using conventional Claisen-Schmidt condensation by reacting 2-hydroxyacetophenone and some substituted benzaldehydes using NaOH 40%, followed by evaluating their cytotoxicity in vitro against HeLa cancer cells line using MTT method and analyzing molecular docking on p53 and MDM2 interaction. Cytotoxicity test exhibited that 2,5-dimethoxy-2´-hydroxychalcone and 4-chloro-2'-hydroxychalcone gave very low IC₅₀, but both did not show potential apoptosis activity, while in docking analysis 4-chloro-2'-hydroxychalcone showing the best results.