A novel domino approach for synthesis of indolyl tetrahydropyrano[4,3-c]pyrazole derivatives as anticancer agents

A series of indolyl substituted 1,4,6,7-tetrahydropyrano[4,3-c]pyrazole derivatives were synthesized via a domino method based on the 1,4:3,6-Dianhydrofructose. The mechanism was proposed and proved by calculation with a density functional theory (DFT), which includes formation of phenylhydrazone, furanone ring opening, Fischer indole synthesis, pyrazole ring closing and a furan ring expansion. In vitro antitumor activity of all synthesized compounds against four human cancer cell lines (MCF-7, EC-109, HGC-27, and PC-3 cell lines) were then evaluated, using MTT assay. We found that most of the compounds were more potent than the positive control 5-fluorouracil. Particularly, compound 4i against HGC-27 and PC-3, 4j against EC-109 cell lines showed three fold greater activity than 5-fluorouracil, respectively. The activity of compounds 4c and 4d against MCF-7 cell line was close to that of doxorubicin.

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