1292
Vol. 59, No. 10
2-(1-Hydroxyethyl)-1-methyl-1H-benzo[ f ]indole-4,9-dione (4ca)
Starting from 5c and 6a, this compound was prepared according to the gen-
eral procedure. Pyridine (4.0 ml) was used. The reaction was performed at rt
for 24 h. The column chromatography (hexane/EtOAcꢁ2/1) gave 7ca37)
(trace) and 4ca (67 mg, 53% yield) as pale yellow needles with mp 200—
Finally, (S)-4aa, which was synthesized from 5a and com-
mercially available (S)-6a according to the developed
method, was evaluated for its ability to suppress the growth
of human tumor cell lines including A549 (lung) and MCF-7
(breast). Compared with 3, compound (S)-4aa exhibited less 201 °C. 4ca: rf (hexane/EtOAcꢁ1/1)ꢁ0.2. 1H-NMR d: 1.69 (3H, d,
Jꢁ6.5 Hz), 2.00 (1H, d, Jꢁ7.0 Hz), 4.12 (3H, s), 4.94 (1H, dq, Jꢁ6.5,
potent antiproliferative effects against both cell lines (IC50 of
7.0 Hz), 6.69 (1H, s), 7.65—7.69 (2H, m), 8.11—8.14 (2H, m). 13C-NMR d:
(S)-4aa: 41.5 and 56.1 mM, respectively; IC50 of 3: 0.92 and
22.1, 33.7, 60.1, 104.6, 125.8, 126.0, 126.7, 130.2, 132.8, 133.2, 133.4,
0.48 mM, respectively).29,30) Further structure–activity rela-
133.7, 147.6, 175.1, 179.9. IR (KBr): 3433, 1647, 1586, 1474, 1443, 1358,
1246, 963, 714. HR-MS (ESI) m/z: [MꢄH]ꢄ Calcd for [C15H14NO3]ꢄ,
256.0974; Found, 256.0985.
tionship (SAR) studies on 4aa derivatives are underway in
our laboratory and will be reported in due course.
5-Hydroxy-1-methyl-2-phenyl-1H-benzo[ f ]indole-4,9-dione (4ab)
Starting from 5a and 6b, this compound was prepared according to the gen-
eral procedure. The column chromatography (hexane/EtOAcꢁ5/1) gave 7aa
(6 mg, 6% yield) and 4ab (104 mg, 69% yield) as orange needles with mp
208—209 °C. 4ab: rf (hexane/EtOAcꢁ2/1)ꢁ0.60. 1H-NMR d: 4.05 (3H, s),
6.79 (1H, s), 7.20 (1H, dd, Jꢁ1.5, 8.5 Hz), 7.44—7.58 (6H, m), 7.71 (1H,
dd, Jꢁ1.5, 7.5 Hz), 12.65 (1H, s). 13C-NMR d: 34.7, 108.0, 115.6, 119.1,
124.0, 127.6, 128.9, 129.2, 129.3, 130.1, 131.6, 134.5, 135.4, 144.1, 162.1,
175.5, 187.0. IR (KBr): 3109, 1630, 1458, 1439, 1323, 1265, 1234, 826,
758, 698. HR-MS (ESI) m/z: [MꢄH]ꢄ Calcd for [C19H14NO3]ꢄ, 304.0974;
Found, 304.0973.
Conclusion
We have demonstrated a concise method for constructing
substituted indolequinones using a Sonogashira coupling/cy-
clization cascade reaction with K2CO3 and a catalytic amount
of Cu2O. The experimental simplicity of the proposed cat-
alytic system is expected to have a variety of applications in
synthetic and medicinal chemistry.
5-Hydroxy-1-methyl-2-phenethyl-1H-benzo[ f ]indole-4,9-dione (4ac)
Starting from 5a and 6c, this compound was prepared according to the gen-
eral procedure. The column chromatography (hexane/EtOAcꢁ5/1) gave 7aa
(10 mg, 10% yield) and 4ac (106 mg, 64% yield) as pale yellow prisms with
mp 163—164 °C. 4ac: rf (hexane/EtOAcꢁ2/1)ꢁ0.60. 1H-NMR d: 2.93 (2H,
t, Jꢁ7.5 Hz), 3.02 (2H, t, Jꢁ7.5 Hz), 3.88 (3H, s), 6.56 (1H, s), 7.15—7.33
(6H, m), 7.52 (1H, dd, Jꢁ7.0, 7.0 Hz), 7.65 (1H, d, Jꢁ7.0 Hz), 12.64 (1H,
s). 13C-NMR d: 28.1, 32.6, 34.4, 106.2, 115.5, 119.0, 123.9, 126.7, 127.5,
128.3, 128.7, 130.8, 134.6, 135.3, 140.1, 143.7, 162.0, 175.1, 187.0. IR
(KBr): 3109, 1626, 1465, 1450, 1438, 1362, 1346, 1263, 1217, 1150, 1017,
826, 785, 746, 702. HR-MS (ESI) m/z: [MꢄH]ꢄ Calcd for [C21H18NO3]ꢄ,
332.1287; Found, 332.1291.
Experimental
1
General All melting points are uncorrected. H- and 13C-NMR spectra
(500 MHz for 1H and 125 MHz for 13C) were obtained in CDC13, unless
otherwise noted. The chemical shift values are expressed in ppm relative
to internal tetramethylsilane. Abbreviations are as follows: s, singlet; d,
doublet; t, triplet; m, multiplet; br, broad. IR is expressed in cmꢃ1. Purifica-
tion was performed using silica gel column chromatography. All reagents
were purchased from chemical companies and used as received. All reac-
tions were conducted under an argon atmosphere, unless otherwise stated.
Product 7ba37) is a known compound.
Synthesis of Starting Materials Compounds 5a,24) 5c,38) and 5d24) were
prepared by the reported methods.
2-(3-Hydroxybut-1-yn-1-yl)-3-(methylamino)naphthalene-1,4-dione
(8ca) Starting from 5c and 6a with a stoichiometric amount of Cu2O, this
compound was prepared according to the general procedure. The reaction
was quenched after 4 h. The column chromatography (hexane/EtOAcꢁ2/1)
gave 4ca (47 mg, 37% yield) and 8ca (39 mg, 31% yield). 8ca: red needles
2-Amino-3-bromo-5-hydroxynaphthalene-1,4-dione (5b) To a solu-
tion of 2-bromo-8-hydroxynaphthalene-1,4-dione38) (253 mg, 1.0 mmol) in
EtOH (8.0 ml), 28% aqueous NH3 (0.7 ml, 10 mmol) was added, and then,
the mixture was stirred for 24 h at rt. After evaporation to remove the sol-
vent, the crude product was dissolved in DMF (2.0 ml). NBS (178 mg,
1.0 mmol) was added to the solution, and the mixture was stirred for 1 h at
rt. The mixture was extracted with EtOAc. The organic extracts were washed
with brine and dried over Na2SO4. The column chromatography (hexane/
EtOAcꢁ2/1) gave 5b (130 mg, 49% yield) as orange needles with mp 222—
223 °C. 5b: rf (hexane/EtOAcꢁ2/1)ꢁ0.40. 1H-NMR d: 5.37 (1H, br s), 6.21
(1H, br s), 7.28 (1H, d, Jꢁ9.0 Hz), 7.52 (1H, dd, Jꢁ7.5, 9.0 Hz), 7.64 (1H, d,
Jꢁ7.5 Hz), 12.48 (1H, s). 13C-NMR (DMSO-d6) d: 99.4, 114.4, 119.7,125.7,
130.4, 135.1, 150.6, 160.6, 178.5, 181.8. IR (KBr): 3439, 3333, 1638, 1616,
1572, 1458, 1383, 1267, 1240, 1059, 766, 683. High resolution (HR)-MS
(electrospray ionization (ESI)) m/z: [MꢄNa]ꢄ Calcd for [C10H6BrNNaO3]ꢄ,
289.9429; Found, 289.9420.
1
with mp 154—156 °C. rf (hexane/EtOAcꢁ1/1)ꢁ0.1. H-NMR d: 1.56 (3H,
d, Jꢁ7.0 Hz), 1.67 (1H, br s), 3.52 (3H, d, Jꢁ5.5 Hz), 4.83 (1H, q,
Jꢁ7.0 Hz), 6.45 (1H, br s), 7.61 (1H, dd, Jꢁ1.0, 7.5 Hz), 7.73 (1H, dd,
Jꢁ1.0, 7.5 Hz), 8.02 (1H, dd, Jꢁ1.0, 7.5 Hz), 8.12 (1H, dd, Jꢁ1.0, 7.5 Hz).
13C-NMR d: 23.7, 31.7, 59.0, 77.2, 97.0, 101.3, 126.5, 126.6, 130.0, 132.3,
133.4, 135.0, 148.4, 181.0, 181.5. IR (KBr): 3318, 1674, 1597, 1566, 1516,
1331, 1292, 721. HR-MS (ESI) m/z: [MꢄH]ꢄ Calcd for [C15H14NO3]ꢄ,
256.0974; Found, 256.0987.
Antiproliferative Effect Assay The antiproliferative effects of indole-
quinone (S)-4aa was examined in cancer cell lines. These cells were main-
tained in usual 10% fetal serum Dulbecco’s minimum essential medium
(DMEM) through experiments and exposed to four dose concentrations of
(S)-4aa in a humidified atmosphere (37 °C, 5% CO2) for 72 h. After the re-
action, cells were further incubated with 0.25% trypan blue dye for 20 min
and counted for viable cells under light microscopic apparatus. IC50 values
were calculated from separate experiments performed in triplicate.
General Procedure for Synthesis of Benzo[ f ]indole-4,9-diones Under
Ar atmosphere, a mixture of Cu2O (14 mg, 0.10 mmol), acetylene 6
(1.0 mmol), K2CO3 (55 mg, 0.40 mmol), and pyridine (8.0 ml, 100 mmol)
was stirred for 2 h at rt. A solution of compound 5 (0.50 mmol) and
Pd(OAc)2 (3.4 mg, 0.015 mmol) in DMF (5.0 ml) was added to this suspen-
sion, and the reaction mixture was stirred at 80 °C for 1 h. The mixture was
quenched with H2O at 0 °C and extracted with CHCl3. The organic extracts
were washed with H2O and brine, dried over Na2SO4, and then concentrated.
5-Hydroxy-2-(1-hydroxyethyl)-1-methyl-1H-benzo[ f ]indole-4,9-dione
(4aa) Starting from 5a and 6a, this compound was prepared according to
the general procedure. The column chromatography (hexane/EtOAcꢁ2/1)
gave 7aa39) (5 mg, 5% yield) and 4aa (86 mg, 63% yield) as yellow needles
with mp 219—220 °C. 4aa: rf (hexane/EtOAcꢁ1/1)ꢁ0.33. 1H-NMR d: 1.68
(3H, d, Jꢁ6.5 Hz), 1.98 (1H, d, Jꢁ7.5 Hz), 4.11 (3H, s), 4.93 (1H, dq,
Jꢁ6.5, 7.5 Hz), 6.65 (1H, s), 7.17 (1H, dd, Jꢁ1.0, 8.5 Hz), 7.53 (1H, dd,
Jꢁ7.5, 8.5 Hz), 7.63 (1H, dd, Jꢁ1.0, 7.5 Hz), 12.6 (1H, s). 13C-NMR d:
22.1, 33.4, 62.0, 105.1, 115.4, 119.2, 124.1, 126.8, 131.8, 134.3, 135.4,
145.4, 162.0, 175.7, 186.7. IR (KBr): 3530, 1630, 1458, 1374, 1352, 1219,
1080. HR-MS (ESI) m/z: [MꢃH]ꢃ Calcd for [C15H13NO4]ꢃ, 270.0766;
Found, 270.0757.
Acknowledgements The authors are grateful to Taheebo Japan Co.,
Ltd. and Sanshin Metal Working Co., Ltd. for the generous financial support
for this project.
References and Notes
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Developments,” Academic Press, New York, 1979.
2) Remers W. A., Dorr R. T., “Alkaloids: Chemical and Biological Per-
spectives,” ed. by Pelletier, S. W., Wiley, New York, 1988, p. 1.
3) Franck R. W., Tomasz M., “Chemistry of Antitumor Agents,” ed. by
Wilman, D. E. V., Blackie & Son, Ltd., Glasgow, 1990, pp. 379—393.
4) Oostveen E. A., Speckamp W. N., Tetrahedron, 43, 255—262 (1987).
5) Jain A., Phillips R. M., Scally A. J., Lenaz G., Beer M., Puri R., Urol-
ogy, 73, 1083—1086 (2009).
6) Newsome J. J., Swann E., Hassani M., Bray K. C., Slawin A. M. Z.,
Beall H. D., Moody C. J., Org. Biomol. Chem., 5, 1629—1640 (2007).
7) Barcia J. C., Otero J. M., Estevez J. C., Estevez R. J., Synlett, 9,
(S)-4aa: Pale yellow needles with mp 234—235 °C. [a]D25 ꢄ12.1 (cꢁ0.11,
CH3OH) for ꢅ99% ee (HPLC, Daicel Chiralpak AD-H, hexane/i-
PrOHꢁ7/3, 1.0 ml/min, 254 nm, minor: 5.44 min and major: 8.59 min).