Michael/Michael Addition Cascade of 2‐Benzylidene‐1‐indanones with Chalcones: Synthesis and Biological Evaluations of Novel Polycyclic Compounds

A series of novel racemic 2‐aryloyl‐1,3‐diaryl‐2,3,3a,8a‐tetrahydrocyclopenta[ a ]inden‐8(1 H )‐one derivatives were synthesized from KO t Bu mediated Michael/Michael addition reaction of 2‐benzylidene‐1‐indanones with chalcones in high yields. This method provides an efficient route for the synthesis of a new class of polycyclic compounds have five stereo centers. The obtained polycyclic compounds were evaluated for the antimicrobial and anticancer activities against fifteen microorganism and three cell lines. The compound 3   r have the best activity value against the cells (MCF‐7 IC 50 =18.01±0.39 μg/mL) (MDA‐MB‐ 231 IC 50 =18.78±1.75 μg/mL) (MCF‐10 A IC 50 =31.31±0.05 μg/mL).