Indole‐Fused Epoxy‐1,5‐Diazocines as Cancer‐Selective Cytotoxic Agents

Dimerization of 2‐(diformylmethylene)‐3,3‐dimethylindole by the action of tosyl chloride (TsCl) led to the creation of an epoxy‐1,5]‐diazocine bicycle. The structure of the molecule resembles that of the naturally occurring C‐curarine‐I. The molecule shows significant cytotoxicity against cancer lines MCF‐7 and MDA‐MB‐231, but not toward the normal cell line CCD‐841. A series of substituted 2‐(diformylmethylene)‐3,3‐dimethylindoles was accordingly dimerized, and the products were studied for their cytotoxic activities.