Aminoanthraquinones were successfully synthesized via two reaction steps. 1,4-Dihydroxyanthraquinone (1) was first subjected to methylation, reduction and acylation to give an excellent yield of anthracene-1,4-dione (3), 1,4-dimethoxyanthracene-9,10-dione (5) and 9,10-dioxo-9,10-dihydroanthracene-1,4-diyl diacetate (7). Treatment of 1, 3, 5 and 7 with BuNH 2 in the presence of PhI(OAc) 2 as catalyst produced seven aminoanthraquinone derivatives 1a, b, 3a, and 5a-d. Amination of 3 and 5 afforded three new aminoanthraquinones, namely 2-(butylamino)anthracene-1,4-dione (3a), 2-(butylamino)anthracene-9,10-dione (5a) and 2,3-(dibutylamino)anthracene-9,10-dione (5b). All newly synthesised aminoanthraquinones were examined for their cytotoxic activity against MCF-7 (estrogen receptor positive human breast) and Hep-G2 (human hepatocellular liver carcinoma) cancer cells using MTT assay. Aminoanthraquinones 3a, 5a and 5b exhibited strong cytotoxicity towards both cancer cell lines (IC 50 1.1-13.0 µg/mL).

A new series of aminoanthraquinone were successfully synthesized via two step of reaction. Firstly 1,4-(dihyroxy)anthracene-9,10-dione was treated with butylamine in the presence of iodobenzene-diacetate to gives 2-(butylamino)-1,4-dihydroxyanthraquinone (1) (90%). In the second step 1 was subjected to reduction, methylation and acylation. Reduction using NaBH 4 result 2-(butyamino)anthracene-1,4-dione (2) where as methylation give a mixture of 2-(butyamino)-1-hydroxy-4-methoxyanthracene-9,10-dione (3a) and 2-(butyamino)-1,4-dimethoxyanthracene-9,10-dione (3b) in 2%, 32% and 25% respectively. The acylation produced 2-(butylamino)-9,10-dioxo-9,10-dihydroanthracene-1,4-diyl diacetate (4) in excellent yield. Characterizations of the products were obtained from the analysis by digital melting point equipment, Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR), Direct Injection Mass Spectrometry (DI-MS), Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) and also Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR). Compound 4 shows good antimicrobial activities toward methicillinresistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Candida albicans and Escherichia coli with MIC value of 0.1, 0.1, 0.1 and 0.5 mg/mL respectively.