Ultrasound mediated synthesis of 6-substituted 2,3-dihydro-1H-pyrrolo[3,2,1-ij]quinoline derivatives and their pharmacological evaluation

Designed as potential cytotoxic agents a series of 6-substituted 2,3-dihydro-1H-pyrrolo[3,2,1-ij]quinoline derivatives were synthesized by using a Bischler type reaction. The methodology involved the cyclodehydration of 2-(3,4-dihydroquinolin-1(2H)-yl)-1-alkyl/aryl ethanones in the presence of p-TSA under ultrasound irradiation. A number of compounds were prepared using this methodology and tested for their in vitro anti-proliferative properties against cancer (leukemia) and non-cancerous cell lines. Some of the compounds showed promising and selective cytotoxic effects toward leukemia cells. (C) 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of King Saud University. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).