Concise total synthesis of water soluble metatacarboline A, C, D, E and F and its anticancer activity

The simple, concise, protecting group free and first total synthesis of Metatacarboline alkaloids (abbreviated as Mc) Mc A, C, D, E and F are reported. The core structure of metatacarboline alkaloids has been constructed by the classical Wittig reaction as key step from easily accessible starting materials with 40-75% overall yields. These synthesized compounds have been subjected to evaluate for their anticancer activity using C6 glioma cell lines. Mc D and Mc F showed significant antiproliferative activity, which was confirmed by MTT and Clonogenic assay. FACS analysis showed that Mc D and Mc F arrested the cell cycle at sub G0/G1 and G2/M phase of cell cycle respectively. Further, Western blot analysis and immunohistochemistry of Mc D treated cells revealed activation of caspase dependent downstream signaling which led to apoptosis.