Fluorinated 2-phenyl-4-quinolone derivatives were synthesized and evaluated in National Cancer Institute's 60 human tumor cell line in vitro screen. From the results, the ketone moiety plays an essential role in activity. Among the compounds tested, 2'-fluoro-6-pyrrol-2- phenyl-4-quinolone (13) exhibited the most potent cytotoxic activities (log GI50<-8.00) against renal and melanoma tumor cell lines. Compound 13 was also a potent inhibitor of ...