Flexible synthesis of isomeric pyranoindolones and evaluation of cytotoxicity towards HeLa cells

A hybrid pharmacophore approach for the synthesis of isomeric pyranoindolones was achieved by employing gold(III) chloride-catalyzed cycloisomerization of alkyne-tethered indole carboxylic acids in good to excellent yield. All the synthesized compounds were evaluated for their tumor cell growth inhibitory activity against human cervix adenocarcinoma (HeLa) which revealed that three compounds exhibited activity comparable with the standard cis-platin (IC50 = 0.08 mu M). Molecular docking of all the compounds in Vaccinia H1-Related (VHR) Phosphatase receptor also supported that compound 7d as the most active with a free energy of binding as -8.27 kcal/mol.