3-substitued indoles: one-pot synthesis and evaluation of anticancer and Src kinase inhibitory activities

Abstract

An efficient and economical method was developed for the synthesis of 3-substituted indoles by one-pot three-component coupling reaction of a substituted or unsubstituted benzaldehyde, N-methylaniline, and indole or N-methylindole using Yb(OTf)3–SiO2 as a catalyst. All the synthesized compounds were evaluated for inhibition of cell proliferation of human colon carcinoma (HT-29), human ovarian adenocarcinoma (SK-OV-3), and c-Src kinase activity. The 4-methylphenyl (4o and 4p) and 4-methoxyphenyl (4q) indole derivatives inhibited the cell proliferation of SK-OV-3 and HT-29 cells by 70–77% at a concentration of 50 μM. The unsubstituted phenyl (4d) and 3-nitrophenyl (4l) derivatives showed the inhibition of c-Src kinase with IC50 values of 50.6 and 58.3 μM, respectively.