Design, synthesis and antiproliferative activity evaluation of new 3,7-disubstituted pyrrolo[2,3-c]pyridines

A number of 3,7-disubstituted 6-azaindoles were designed and synthesized starting from the readily accessible 2-chloro-3-nitro-4-picoline. The target compounds were tested for their antiproliferative activity against HT-1080, A431 and A549 cancer cell lines in comparison to the normal human AG01523 strain. The 3-acetyl-7-anilino derivative exerts a substantial selective cytotoxic effect towards cancer cells at the low μM range, causing a G2/M-phase arrest and apoptosis. • Synthesis and full characterization of novel 3,7-disubstituted pyrrolo[2,3- c ]pyridines derivatives is described. • In vitro cytotoxic activity on cancer cell lines HT-1080, A431 and A549, and activity against normal AG01523 cells is provided. • Structure-activity relationships are extracted pointing out the most favorable substitution pattern. • Cell cycle phase distribution on HT-1080 cells showed that the most active derivatives induce G2/M-phase arrest.