Convenient synthesis and antiproliferative activity of 2-(Indol-2-yl)-2-arylacetamides

Abstract

There have been a limited number of reports describing the preparation of 2-(indol-2-yl)-2-arylacetamides and those syntheses that have been published suffer from significant drawbacks. In addition, this class of compounds has not been evaluated biologically despite the occurrence of 2-(indol-2-yl)-acetamides in natural products and medicinally important compounds. We developed a two-step synthesis of these compounds utilizing our previously developed preparation of 2-(3-oxoindolin-ylidene)-2-arylacetonitriles from o-nitroacetophenones and their transformation into the desired compounds utilizing a novel process involving treatment under mild conditions with NaBH4 in EtOH. The synthesized compounds were evaluated for antiproliferative effects against BE(2)-C neuroblastoma cells and two compounds were found to have micromolar IC50 values.