A review of the synthesis of α-carbolines

Since the first reported synthesis of an alpha-carboline almost a century ago, there has been a steady interest in the development of strategies towards this unique heterocyclic motif. This interest can mainly be attributed to a range of biological activity displayed by the alpha-carboline natural products including cytotoxicity, anticancer properties or CNS activity. Numerous studies have led to the development of a number of alternative methods to prepare simple alpha-carbolines as well as a range of synthetic alpha-carboline derived compounds. (C) 2014 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.