2-and 3-Methyl-4, 8-dihydrobenzo [1, 2-b: 5, 4-b′] dithiophene-4, 8-dione and related derivatives were synthesized and evaluated in vitro by NCI against eight cancer types. Compounds 12–15 showed significant activity against melanoma, NCI-H23 non-small cell lung cancer, and MDA-MB-435 and MDA-N breast cancer cell lines; 2-hydroxymethyl-4, 8- dihydrobenzo [1, 2-b: 5, 4-b′] dithiophene-4, 8-dione (13) showed the highest activity ...