SYNTHESIS OF A REBECCAMYCIN-RELATED INDOLOCARBAZOLE BY PALLADIUM(0) CATALYZED POLYANNULATION.

Article abstract of DOI:10.1016/0040-4039(95)01644-W

The assembly of the parent Indolo<2,3-a>carbazole ring system, common to rebeccamycin and arcyriaflavin A, is efficiently accomplished by the discovery of a novel palladium(0)-catalyzed polyannulation reaction, wherein 4 bonds are formed in a single step from a simple monocyclic 1,3-diacetylene precursor.This chemistry further demonstrates the power of palladium(0) in the execution of complex synthetic organic chemistry, and also provides a novel approach to the synthesis of Indolo<2,3-a>carbazole alkaloids, an increasingly important class of bioactive natural products.