A Straightforward Synthetic Approach to Antitumoral Pyridinyl Substituted 7H-Indeno[2,1-c]Quinoline Derivatives Via Three-Component Imino Diels- Alder Reaction

A simple and efficient synthetic method of obtaining pyridinyl substituted indeno[2,1-c]quinoline derivatives has been developed. This method involves a three-component imino Diels-Alder cycloaddition between anilines, pyridinecarboxyaldehydes and indene as the key ring forming step and subsequent treatment of obtained 5,6,6a,11b-tetrahydroindeno[2,1-c]quinolines with powdered sulfur to give corresponding indeno[2,1-c]quinolines. Some of them were treated with potassium permanganate in acetone to afford the 7Hindeno[ 2,1-c]quinolin-7-ones. Most compounds of the series were devoid of antifungal properties against a panel of standard dermatophytes, however, nearly all of them were active against breast (MCF-7), lung (H-460) and central nervous system (SF-268) human cancer cell lines.