New progesterone receptor antagonists: 3,3-disubstituted-5-aryloxindoles

A new series of 3,3-disubstituted-5-aryloxindoles has been synthesized and evaluated for progesterone receptor antagonist (PR) activity in a T47D cell alkaline phosphatase assay and for their ability to bind PR in competition binding studies. In this communication, the synthesis and structure-activity relationships (SARs) of various 3,3-substituents are discussed where it is clear that small alkyl and spiroalkyl groups are required to achieve better PR antagonist activity.