Global reactivity indexes and nonparametric statistics in the study of the proapoptotic activity of coumarins

Abstract

AbstractCoumarins are widely distributed as secondary metabolites and are popular structural motifs among known anticancer agents; their planarity and electronic environment are very important building blocks for bioactive compounds. Due to the broad scope of their biological activity, anticancer properties of these molecules remain an important goal for medicinal chemistry. In this work, the knowledge and understanding of the correlation between electronic environment and global reactivity of a series of hydroxycoumarins lead to develop a statistical model to study the proapoptotic activity of this type of compounds. Thus, the analysis of the charge distribution within the molecule and experimental data of proapoptotic activity of known coumarins are analyzed through a regression model. This model offers the possibility of predicting whether a structural related coumarin will show the desired activity or not, which increases the ability to a target‐directed approach in the development of anticancer therapeutic agents.