We have efficiently synthesized albiziabioside A (1) together with its six disaccharide analogues through a linear synthesis, and evaluated their cytotoxicity against six different skin cancer cells. All of the analogues showed weak cytotoxicity, with the exception of compound 1, which exhibited strong cytotoxicity against A375 cells. Albiziabioside A can induce cell cycle arrest in both the S and G2/M phases. Moreover, albiziabioside A can induce A375 cell apoptosis via mitochondrial pathways involving a caspase cascade. These results provide for the first time a basic mechanism for the anticancer activity of 1.
