Synthesis and antitumor properties of 2,5-bis(3'-indolyl)thiophenes: analogues of marine alkaloid nortopsentin.

A series of 11 bis-indolylthiophenes of type 8–10 were obtained by cyclization of diketones 4 and 7 using Lawesson’s reagent. Derivatives 8c, 9c, 9d, and 10c were selected to be evaluated in the full panel of about 60 human tumor cell lines derived from nine human cancer cell types and showed antiproliferative activity generally in the micromolar range. The most sensitive cell lines were: CCRF-CEM, MOLT-4, HL60 (TB), and RPMI-8226 of the leukemia subpanel, HT29 and HCC-2998 cell lines of the colon sub-panel, NCI-H522 of the non-small cell lung cancer sub-panel, LOX IMVI of the melanoma sub-panel, and UO-31 of the renal cancer sub-panel.