Angular and linear isomers of indoloquinoline are synthesized from 4-hydroxyquinolin-2(1H)-one. The use of Vilsmeier-Haack reagent on 𝑁-phenylpropionamide yielded a new versatile method for the synthesis of 2-chloro-3-methylquinoline which is utilized as precursor in the synthesis of basic camptothecin core and quinoline fused with 1,8-naphthridine. The in vivo photoinduced antibacterial activity of all the synthesized compounds has been studied. The unique photo-bioactivity of 5𝐻-indolo[3,2-𝑐]quinolin-6(11𝐻)-one is further studied under the photo-DNA cleavage analysis. Theoretical calculations for the synthesized compounds are performed to determine further credentials of the biological results.
