Diazine Analogues of the Pyridocarbazole Alkaloids

The pyrido[4,3-b]carbazole alkaloids, ellipticine and olivacine, have been attracting considerable interest since many years due to their pronounced antitumour activity. Among the large number of structural variations of these lead compounds which have been performed in search of new agents with enhanced pharmacological profiles, a remarkable proportion of work has been devoted to the synthesis of diazine-fused carbazoles as "aza" analogues (in a broader sense) of the natural products. The present article will give a detailed overview of the literature from the past two decades in this field of medicinal heterocyclic chemistry.