1-(3-Pyridyl)-3-(dimethylamino)-2-propen-1-one can be used in the synthesis of imatinib and nilotinib (AMN107), a compound currently in multiple Phase II/III clinical trials for chronic granulocytic leukaemia. Imatinib, on the other hand, is a cancer growth blocker known as a tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI), which is used to treat a wide range of leukaemias, myelodysplastic/myeloproliferative disorders, systemic mastocytosis, eosinophilia syndromes, raised dermal fibrosarcoma and gastrointestinal mesenchymal tumours.