The cytotoxic activity of camptothecin derivatives is so high that these compounds need to be further modified before their successful application as anti-cancer agents clinically. In this study, we reported the synthesis and biological evaluation of a novel camptothecin derivative called compound 2-47. The changes in structure did not reduce its activity to inhibit DNA topoisomerase I. Compound 2-47 induced apoptosis of many tumor cells including leukemia cells K562, Jurkat, HL-60, breast cancer cell BT-549, colon cancer cell HT-29 and liver cancer cell HepG2 with a half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) of 2- to 3-fold lower than HCPT as a control. In particular, 2-47 inhibited the proliferation of Jurkat cells with an IC50 of as low as 40 nM. By making use of Jurkat cell as a model, following treatment of Jurkat cells, compound 2-47 activated caspase-3 and PARP, resulting in a decreased Bcl-2/Bax ratio. These data showed that compound 2-47 induces Jurkat cell death through the mitochondrial apoptotic pathway. In addition, compound 2-47 showed a decreased cytotoxic activity against normal cells and an improved solubility in low-polar solvent. For example, compound 2-47 solutes in CHCl3 130-fold higher than HCPT. Taken together, our data demonstrated that camptothecin derivative 2-47 notably inhibits the tumor cell proliferation through mitochondrial-mediated apoptosis in vitro. (C) 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.