Analogs of green tea polyphenols as chemotherapeutic and chemopreventive agents

A compound having the structural formula (I)

• 24
• wherein:
• R1, R2 and R3 are independently selected from the group consisting of hydroxyl, halo, sulfhydryl, alkoxy, aryloxy, and aralkyloxy, and further wherein either R1 and R2 or R2 and R3 can be linked to form a cyclic group;
• R4 is selected from O, S, NRx, and CRyRz, wherein Rx, Ry, and Rz are hydrogen or alkyl;
• R5 is selected from the group consisting of OH, SH, acyloxy, and N(Rx) wherein the Rx may be the same or different and are as defined previously;
• R6, R7, R8 and R9 are independently selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, alkyl, alkoxy, aryloxy, and aralkyloxy, providing that either R6 and R7, or R8 and R9, may be linked together to form a cyclic structure selected from five-membered rings, six-membered rings, and fused five-membered and/or six-membered rings, wherein the cyclic structure is aromatic, alicyclic, heteroaromatic, or heteroalicyclic, and has zero to 4 non-hydrogen substituents and zero to 3 heteroatoms;
• and
• R10 and R11 are independently selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, hydroxyl, alkyl, alkoxy, and halo,
• with the proviso that when (a) R7, R9, R10, and R11 are hydrogen, (b) R1, R2, R3, R6, and R8 are hydroxyl, and (c) R4 is O, then (d) R5 is other than 3,4,5-trihydroxybenzoyloxy or 3,4,5-trimethoxybenzoyloxy.