Design, synthesis, and in vitro/vivo anticancer activity of 4-substituted 7-(3-fluoro-4-methoxybenzyl)-7H-pyrrolo[2,3-d]pyrimidines

In this paper, we report the design and synthesis of 4-substituted 7-(3-fluoro-4-methoxybenzyl)-7H-pyrrolo[2,3-d]pyrimidines of scaffold 6 as anticancer agents. A total of 19 derivatives of scaffold 6 bearing a C-4 alkoxy, dialkylamino, alkyl, vinyl, or phenyl substituent were synthesized and evaluated. Among them, compound 6q having a C-4 ethyl group and a benzylic methyl group showed the most potent in vitro anticancer activity, inhibiting the proliferation of Hela, MDA-MB-231, and MDA-MB-426 cancer cells at submicromolar concentrations (GI(50): 0.11-0.58 mu M). Compound 6q arrested the cell cycle of MDA-MB-231 at G(2)/M phase, and showed in vivo activity on nude mice bearing MDA-MB-231 xenografts. Compound 6q has served as an anticancer lead for further optimization.