Novel Routes to Pyrroles, Indoles and Carbazoles - Applications in Natural Product Synthesis

Using organometallic chemistry several novel methods for the efficient construction of pyrroles, indoles, and carbazoles have been developed. The key reactions are transition metal-mediated or -catalyzed oxidative cyclizations and cycloadditions. In the present article we summarize some recent applications of these methods to short and convergent total syntheses of naturally occurring biologically active alkaloids including fused indolizidines, yohimbanes, Amaryllidaceae alkaloids, and carbazoles.