Synthesis and antitumor properties of bis-indole derivatives

A series of bis-indole derivatives were designed and synthesized about 10-20% overall yields. Four newly synthesized compounds have not been reported before. Their structures were characterized by H NMR. All the synthesized compounds were evaluated for inhibition of cell proliferation of human liver cancer (HepG2), human colon cancer (HT-29) and human leukemia (K562) cell lines activity. The bis-indole showed the inhibition of K562 with IC50 values of 56.19-58.55 μM, respectively.