A New Way to 2,3,4-Trisubstituted Benzo[ h ]quinolines: Synthesis, Consecutive Reactions and Cellular Activities †.

The reaction of mercaptoacetic acid esters with pentachloro-2-nitro-1,3-butadiene provides the appropriate precursors for the synthesis of 2,3,4-trisubstituted benzo[ h ]quinolines. These heterocycles are easily accessible via a single-step reaction with naphthalen-1-amine or anthracen-1-amine as the precursor. Due to the steric bulk and high electron density ring, the ring closure of benzo[ h ]quinolines takes place exclusively. Such highly substituted annelated pyridine systems can be modified in subsequent, selective reactions to build up new N -heterocycles with promising microbiological properties. The antibacterial and antiproliferative assays against four mammalian cell lines demonstrate that some of the sulfur-substituted benzo[ h ]quinoline analogs display potent phenotypic bioactivities in the single-digit micromolar range.