Synthesis, crystal structure, DFT, vibrational properties, Hirshfeld surface and antitumor activity studies of 3-((4-methylpiperazin-1-yl) methyl)-1-octyl-5-(p-tolyl)-1H-pyrrolo[2,3-c]pyridine

•The titled compound was synthesized and calculated for its optimized structures by DFT.•The structure optimized by a DFT method was compared with the X-ray structure.•Vibrational frequencies and Hirshfeld surface of the title compound were analyzed.•The proliferative activity of the title compound was evaluated. 3-((4-Methylpiperazin-1-yl)methyl)-1-octyl-5-(p-tolyl)-1H-pyrrolo[2,3-c] pyridine is a novel organic compound with a parent nucleus of pyridine[2,3-c]pyrrole. In this paper, the target compound was synthesized by 6 experimental steps and characterized by FT-IR, 1H NMR, 13C NMR spectroscopy, MS and X-ray diffraction. Based on 6-311+G(2d, p), the compound was geometrically optimized by density functional theory. The conformational analysis results showed that the optimized DFT molecular structure was in good agreement with the X-ray diffraction value. Then, the molecular electrostatic potential and front-line molecular orbitals of the title compound were further calculated, and the calculation results showed that the compound had good chemical stability and certain reactivity. Use Hershfield surface analysis to intuitively and clearly reveal molecular interactions in crystal structures. [Display omitted]