increasing amounts of jh164 deacetylation and developer reactions were carried out for 1 hour at 37 u00b0 c ic50 for jh164 is 23 5 micromolar the above embodiments are representative of the present invention and are not to be construed as limiting the scope of the invention as defined in the claims further compounds have been synthesized based on the initial compound jj91 u2014 also referred to hereinafter as tenovin 1 jh140 is of potential interest because it has been shown to irreversibly activate p53 unlike all the other compounds we have prepared which reversibly activate p53 u2014 it synthesis is described below within the procedures for tenovin 6 the experimental for the synthesis of these compounds shown in scheme 1 below scheme 1 a synthesis of tenovin 6 and analogues 1 5 7 i socl 2 ch 2 cl 2 rt 16 h 96 ii nascn acetone rt 8 h then 1 4 phenylenediamine 16 h 58 iii acid chloride net 3 dcm rt iv 40 aq hnme 2 dcm h 2 o rt 24 h v 2m hcl in diethyl ether to a solution of 3 prepared from 2 according to j am chem soc 1985 107 898 6 53 g 33 mmol 1 equiv in acetone 50 ml was added sodium thiocyanate 2 69 g 33 mmol 1 equiv the cream suspension was stirred at rt for 16 h then added to a solution of p aminoacetanilide 4 95 g 33 mmol 1 equiv in acetone 50 ml the yellow suspension was stirred at rt for 16.