Design, synthesis and biological evaluation of 1H-pyrrolo[2,3-b]pyridine and 1H-pyrazolo[3,4-b]pyridine derivatives as c-Met inhibitors

•Novel 7-azaindole and 7-azaindazole derivatives were designed and synthesized.•Compound 9 displayed strong c-Met kinase, MKN-45 cell and EBC-1 cell inhibition.•The synthesis methods of 7-azaindole and 7-azaindazole derivatives were developed.

Five novel 1H-pyrrolo[2,3-b]pyridine or 1H-pyrazolo[3,4-b]pyridine derivatives, with a methylene, sulfur, sulfoxide or cyclopropyl group as a linker, were designed, synthesized and biologically evaluated against c-Met and ALK. The development of these methods of compound synthesis may provide an important reference for the construction of novel 7-azaindole and 7-azaindazole derivatives with a single atom linker. The enzyme assay and cell assay in vitro showed that compound 9 displayed strong c-Met kinase inhibition with IC50 of 22.8 nM, moderate ALK kinase inhibition, and strong cell inhibition with MKN-45 IC50 of 329 nM and EBC-1 IC50 of 479 nM. In order to find the better candidate compounds, compounds 8, 9 and 10 have been selected as tool compounds for further optimization.

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