Assembly of Fully Substituted 2H-Indazoles Catalyzed by Cu2O Rhombic Dodecahedra and Evaluation of Anticancer Activity

Simultaneous C-N, and N-N bond-forming methods for one-pot transformations are highly challenging in synthetic organic chemistry. In this study, the Cu2O rhombic dodecahedra-catalyzed synthesis of 2H-indazoles is demonstrated with good to excellent yields from readily available chemicals. This one-pot procedure involves Cu2O nanoparticle-catalyzed consecutive C-N, and N-N bond formation followed by cyclization to yield 2H-indazoles with broad substrate scope and high functional group tolerance. Various cell-based bioassay studies demonstrated that 2H-indazoles inhibit the growth of cancer cells, typically through induction of apoptosis in a dose-dependent manner. Moreover, 2H-indazoles tested in the MDA-MB-468 cell line were capable of inhibiting cancer cell migration and invasion. Thus, it is shown that 2H-indazoles have potent in vitro anticancer activity that warrant further investigation of this compound class.