Discovery of novel pyrrolo[2,3-b]pyridine derivatives bearing 1,2,3-triazole moiety as c-Met kinase inhibitors.

A series of novel pyrrolo[2,3-b]pyridine derivatives bearing 1,2,3-triazole moiety were designed, synthesized, and evaluated for their c-Met kinase inhibitory activities and antiproliferative activities against 4 cancer cell lines (HT-29, A549, MCF-7, and PC-3) in vitro. Most compounds showed moderate to excellent potency, with the most promising analog 34 showing a c-Met IC50 value of 1.68nM. Structure-activity relationship studies indicated that electron-withdrawing groups (X=CF3, R(1)=F, R(2)=4-F) were required to decrease the higher electron density on the 5-atom linker to a proper degree to improve the inhibitory activity.