A Novel Entry to Pyrido[4,3-b]carbazoles: An Efficient Synthesis of Ellipticine

The palladium catalyzed tandem cyclization–cross-coupling reaction of indolylborate (2) with vinyl bromide (9) was developed for the preparation of pyrido[4,3-b]carbazole as a key reaction. The cross-coupling reaction of 2a provided hexatriene (10), and then cyclization of 10 to pyrido[4,3-b]carbazole (12) was effected with irradiation or Lewis acid. Using indolylborate (2c) for the cross-coupling reaction, a novel construction of ellipticine was attained through similar reaction sequences.