"On water" expedient synthesis of 3-indolyl-3-hydroxy oxindole derivatives and their anticancer activity in vitro

A series of 3-indolyl-3-hydroxy oxindole derivatives (n = 41) were synthesized by the green aminocatalytic method with excellent yields under mild reaction conditions. All the newly synthesized derivatives were subjected to evaluate their cytotoxic properties against different human cancer cell lines. Results indicated that about 73% of the derivatives exhibited significant anti-proliferative activities against leukemia (U937, THP-1), lung (A549) and breast cancer (MCF7) cell lines. Among them a few of the derivatives exhibited the most potent and effective cytotoxic activities on U937 (34, 36, 38 and 41) and MCF7 (12, 35, 40 and 41) cell lines, and their anti-proliferation activities are better than the positive control, Etoposide.