A new synthetic method has been established to synthesize α-carbolines through the
reaction of electrophilic azaindoles with ambiphilic alkylidene malononitriles. The
versatility of this approach was explored by using various alkylidene malononitriles,
and also by conducting nitrogen migration on the azaindole. This method enables the
simultaneous introduction of diverse functional groups, such as amine, nitrile, and
aryl, onto the benzene ring of a carboline scaffold. As the scaffold putatively shows
antiproliferative and other biological activities, the method is valuable in the development
of new chemical entities for drug discovery.
Key words
azaindoles - azacarbazoles - carbolines - annulation reaction - base-mediated reaction
- medicinal chemistry
