Patent 7235578 was granted and assigned to Auckland Uniservices Limited on June, 2007 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
The invention provides processes of preparing 3-substituted 1-(chloromethyl)- 1,2-dihydro-3H-[ring fused indol-5-yl(amine-derived)] compounds of formula (I) and its analogues, or a physiologically functional derivative thereof, (I), wherein A and B together may represent a fused optionally substituted benezene, naphthalene, pyridine, furan or a pyrrole ring, where the optional substituents are represented by Y; X is halogen or OSO2R, and W is selected from NO2, NHOH, N(R3)2NHR3, NHCO2R3, N(phthaloyl) or NH2, or W is further selected from the group (a), wherein J is selected from OH or H, and P is a group which is a substrate suitable for a nitroreductase or carboxypeptidase enzyme. The invention is also directed to the use of compounds of formula (I) prepared by the processes of the invention as cytotoxins for cancer therapy and as prodrugs for gene-directed enzyme-prodrug therapy (GDEPT) and antibody-directed enzyme-prodrug theraphy (ADEPT).