Polyamine-naphthoquinone conjugates 5a-c were synthesized by nucleophilic displacement of 2-methoxy-lawsone 3a, 2-methoxylapachol 3b and 2-methoxy-nor-lapachol 3c with the polyamine N1-Boc-N5-Bn-spermidine 4. Unprotected derivatives 6a-c were synthesized to evaluate the effect of the protective Boc group on the activity of compounds 5a-c. The colorimetric MTT assay was used to evaluate their cytotoxic activity. All compounds were active against human lines of promyelocytic leukemia (HL-60), lung cancer (GLC4), Burkitt lymphoma (Daudi) and a mouse breast tumor (Ehrlich carcinoma), but only unprotected 6a-c showed activity against the human line of melanoma (MV-3). IC50 values were obtained from dose response curves by linear regression. DNA fragmentation was measured by quantification of the subG1 peak of the cell cycle. Apoptosis of HL-60 treated with 5c was dose-dependent. The amount of DNA fragmentation observed by exposure of HL-60 to 25 microM of compounds 5a-c and 6a-c is compatible with the decrease in viability induced by the drugs at this concentration. Production of ROS was measured by H2-CFDA. Kinetics of HL-60 DNA fragmentation and ROS formation by 5c indicated that production of ROS precedes cell death. In conclusion, spermidine-1,4-naphthoquinone conjugates exhibited an increase in activity compared with the natural products and induced apoptosis of tumor cell lines by a mechanism that is mediated, at least in part, by ROS production.