A Pd-Catalyzed Direct Entry to 11-Substituted 6H-Isoindolo[2,1-a]indol-6-one Derivatives as Potential Anticancer Agents.

We describe Pd-mediated one-step synthesis of 11-substituted 6H-isoindolo[2,1-a]indol-6-ones via a sequential intramolecular Heck reaction of the corresponding dihalo N-allyl substituted N-arylbenzamide derivatives. Several of these compounds showed promising antiproliferative properties when tested against a number of cancer cell lines in vitro.