Abstract
A series of spirooxindolopyrrolidine fused
N
-styrylpiperidone heterocyclic hybrids has been synthesized in excellent yield via a domino multicomponent protocol that involves one-pot three component 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition and concomitant enamine reactions performed in an inexpensive ionic liquid, namely 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium bromide ([bmim]Br). Compounds thus synthesized were evaluated for their cytotoxicity against U-937 tumor cells. Interestingly; compounds
5i
and
5m
exhibited a better cytotoxicity than the anticancer drug bleomycin. In addition; the effect of the synthesized compounds on the nuclear morphology of U937 FaDu cells revealed that treatment with compounds
5a
–
m
led to their apoptotic cell death.