In the course of structure–activity relationship studies, diversely substituted 1-(β- d-acetylatedglucopyranosyl)isoindigo derivatives were prepared from indolines. New 7′-azaisoindigo analogues were also synthesized by coupling a glycosylated isatine and a 7-azaindolin-2-one derivative. Compounds containing a 7′-azaisoindigo framework have never been described before. To get an insight into the substitution pattern required for the best biological potencies, their antiproliferative activities were evaluated toward a human buccal carcinoma cell line (KB) and two human myeloid leukaemia cell lines (K562, HL60)