Synthesis of anticancer compounds, III (Bioorg Med Chem Lett 17, 6091, 2007), carbinol derivatives of azanaphthoquinone annelated pyrroles

A series of carbinols has been synthesized by attachment of different piperidinyl side chains to the quinone structure of azanaphthoquinone annelated pyrroles. The synthesized compounds were screened for their cytotoxic activities. Compared to previously published results, they exhibited only moderate activities, thus showing that the existence of the quinone moiety seems to be essential for anticancer activities of this group.