A Facile Synthesis and Molecular Characterization of Certain New Anti-Proliferative Indole-Based Chemical Entities.

Cancer cells frequently develop drug resistance, which leads to chemotherapeutic treatment failure. Additionally, chemotherapies are hindered by their high toxicity. Therefore, the development of new chemotherapeutic drugs with improved clinical outcomes and low toxicity is a major priority. Several indole derivatives exhibit distinctive anti-cancer mechanisms which have been associated with various molecular targets. In this study, target compounds - were obtained through the reaction of substituted benzyl chloride with hydrazine hydrate, which produces benzyl hydrazine. Subsequently, the appropriate substituted benzyl hydrazine was allowed to react with 1-indole-2-carboxylic acid or 5-methoxy-1-indole-2-carboxylic acid using 1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)carbodiimide as a coupling agent. All compounds exhibited cytotoxicity in three cell lines, namely, MCF-7, A549, and HCT. Compound exhibited the highest cytotoxicity, with an average IC50 of 2 µM. Moreover, a flow cytometry study revealed a significantly increased prevalence of Annexin-V and 7-AAD positive cell populations. Several derivatives of - showed moderate to high cytotoxicity against the tested cell lines, with compound having the highest cytotoxicity, indicating that it may possess potential apoptosis-inducing capabilities.