Indium catalyzed solvent-free multicomponent synthesis of cytotoxic dibenzo[a,h]anthracenes from aldehydes, 2-hydroxy-1,4-naphthoquinone, and 2-naphthol

Abstract

A series of dibenzo[a,h]anthracene derivatives were synthesized through a straightforward, one-pot protocol based on a three-component reaction with 2-hydroxy-1,4-naphthoquinone, aromatic aldehydes, and 2-naphthol as synthetic inputs, using InCl3 a catalyst under solvent-free conditions. Most of the obtained ortho-quinonic adducts were cytotoxic against HEL and MCF-7 tumoral cell lines.