Synthesis of Indeno［1.2-c］indenoisoquinoline Derivatives as Potential Topoisomerase I Inhibitors

During the research for the development of antitumor agents. we found the 3-arylisoquinoline derivatives exhibited potent cytotoxicity against human tumor cell lines. For extending our study on these compounds. indeno［1.2-c］isoquinolines were chosen as the next research target due to previous studied data of the compounds that showed potent topoisomerase I inhibition activity as well as cytotoxicity against many kinds of tumor cell lines. Retrosynthetic consideration of indeno[1.2-d]isoquinolines indicates that the coupling of o-methyltoluamide with o-hydroxymethylbenxonitrile might afford 3-arylisoquinoline which could be translerred to the aldehtde. Indeno [1.2-c]isoquinolines can be formed by and inframolecular ring cyclization method. Various derlvatives of this compound including 11-alkoxy-6-methyl-6H. 11H-indeno[1.2-c]isoquinolin-5-one and biological activity will be presented with the docking model with topisomerase 1 enzyme.