Synthesis and biological evaluation of indolyl chalcones as antitumor agents

A series of indolyl chalcones were synthesized and evaluated for their in vitro anti-proliferative activities against various cancer cell lines. A series of indolyl chalcones were synthesized and evaluated in vitro for their anticancer activity against three human cancer cell lines. Compounds 3b– d, 3h, 3j, 3l, 3m, 4g, and 4j showed significant cytotoxicity, particularly, indolyl chalcones 3l and 3m were identified as the most potent and selective anticancer agents with IC 50 values 0.03 and 0.09 μM, against PaCa-2 cell line, respectively.