An account of synthetic strategies towards indolocarbazole alkaloids: Arcyriaflavin A and Staurosporinone

Abstract

An account of synthetic methods developed for indolocarbazole alkaloids arcyriaflavin A and staurosporinone is presented. Based on a common pathway or key intermediate involved, all these methods are broadly grouped into four categories: 1) using bisindolyl maleimide/anhydride, 2) from bisindoles, 3) using Fischer indolisation, 4) involving nitrene insertion. This review discusses in detail the strategies involved in the construction of these two molecules.