Anti-Cancer Cycloalkyl Diamines

A method of inhibiting cell growth in cancer cells comprising administering to a mammal in need of said treatment an effective amount of a cell growth inhibitory compound of the formula (I):

• or the pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, wherein:
• X and Y are independently selected from the group consisting of H, F, Cl, Br, I, CN, OH, CF3, C2F5, C1-C6-alkyl, C3-C7-cycloalkyl, C1-C3-alkoxy, aryl, heteroaryl, —(—C═O)—R5, —NH—(C═O)—R5, —NR5- (C=O)-R6, —(C═O)—NHR5 and —(C═O)—NR5R6.
• R1 is hydrogen;
• R2 is hydrogen or C1-C6-alkyl;
• R3 is hydrogen or C1-C6-alkyl;
• R4 is selected from the group consisting of C1-C6-alkyl, C3-C7-cycloalkyl and (CH2)n—R7, or
• NR3R4 is a 5- to 12-membered cyclic or bicyclic ring system containing up to two additional heteroatoms in the ring, selected from N, O and S;
• R5 is selected from C1-C6-alkyl and aryl;
• R6 is selected from C1-C6-alkyl and aryl, or
• NR5R6 is a 5- to 12-membered cyclic or bicyclic ring system containing up to two additional heteroatoms in the ring, selected from N, O and S;
• R7 is independently selected from the group consisting of H, C1-C6-alkyl, C3-C7-cycloalkyl, (C1-C6-alkyloxy)-, (C1-C6-alkyloxy)(C1-C6-alkyl)-, NR8R9-, NR8R9-(C1-C6-alkyl), -aryl, heterocyclyl and heteroaryl;
• and
• R8 and R9 are independently selected from hydrogen, C1-C6-alkyl and aryl, or taken together with the N atom to which they are attached form a 3- to 8-membered ring containing up to two additional heteroatoms, selected from N, O and S;
• and
• n is an integer between 0 and 6.