Pictet-Spengier Reaction in Trifluoroacetic Acid. Large Scale Synthesis of Pyridoindolobenzodiazepine as an Atypical Antipsychotic Agent

Article abstract of DOI:10.1016/0040-4039(95)01812-V

Traditional syntheses of benzodiazepines involve a Bischler-Napieralski reaction which is a three step process and gives low overall yields.An attractive alternative is to construct the diazepine ring under Pictet-Spengler conditions.This paper reports the synthesis of a novel pyridoindolobenzodiazepine as a potent atypical antipsychotic agent.The key step in the synthesis is the ring formation of the diazepine ring in neat trifluoroacetic acid.