-Prenylation of the indole ring improves the cytotoxicity of a short antagonist G analogue against small cell lung cancer.

Natural prenylated indoles have been proposed as potential anticancer agents. To exploit this discovery for developing new peptide therapeutics, we report the first studies whereby incorporation of prenylated indoles into primary sequences has been achieved. We developed a route to synthesise N-Fmoc-protected tryptophan derivatives in which the prenyl group is linked to the -indole core, using Pd(ii)-mediated C-H functionalisation of 2-methyl-2-butene.