CF3SO2Na-Mediated, UV-Light-Induced Friedel-Crafts Alkylation of Indoles with Ketones/Aldehydes and Bioactivities of Products.

A concise, one-step route to produce 3,3'-diindolylmethanes (DIMs) from simple indoles and ketones or aldehydes is reported. The key step is the ready formation of indole derivatives that involves the in situ conversion of CF3SO2Na reagent to ·CF3 under oxygen or air (1.0 atm) and UV irradiation. It is disclosed that most of the obtained DIMs show anticancer activities in human bladder cancer cell lines EJ and T24.