Synthesis 2005(12): 1959-1966  
DOI: 10.1055/s-2005-869977
PAPER
© Georg Thieme Verlag Stuttgart · New York

Synthesis of Indolo[2,3-a]pyrrolo[3,4-c]carbazoles by Oxidative Cyclization of Bisindolylmaleimides with a Rhodium(III)-Copper(II) Catalytic System

Bernhard Witulski*, Torsten Schweikert
Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, Organisch-Chemisches Institut, Correnstr. 40, 48143 Münster, Germany
Fax: +49(251)8336501; e-Mail: witulski@uni-muenster.de;
Weitere Informationen

Publikationsverlauf

Received 12 January 2005
Publikationsdatum:
24. Juni 2005 (online)

Abstract

A novel catalytic protocol for the synthesis of a series of indolo[2,3-a]pyrrolo[3,4-c]carbazoles based on the bimetallic system RhCl3·3H2O and Cu(OAc)2·H2O in the presence of molecular oxygen was investigated. The method was applied to the synthesis of the glycosidated fluoroindolocarbazole 3 that was recently isolated as a metabolite from feeding experiments of Saccharothrix aerocolonigenes ATCC 39243 with fluorotryptophanes.

    References

  • For reviews on studies related to their chemistry and biology, see:
  • 1a Bergman J. Janosik T. Wahlström N. Adv. Heterocycl. Chem.  2001,  80:  1 
  • 1b Pindur U. Kim Y.-S. Mehrabani F. Curr. Med. Chem.  1999,  6:  29 
  • 1c Gribble GW. Berthel SJ. Studies in Natural Product Chemistry   Vol. 12:  . Elsevier Science Publishers; New York: 1993.  p.365 
  • 1d Knölker HJ. Reddy KR. Chem. Rev.  2002,  102:  4303 
  • 1e Steglich W. Pure Appl. Chem.  1989,  61:  281 
  • 1f Prudhomme M. Curr. Pharm. Des.  1997,  3:  265 
  • 1g Prudhomme M. Curr. Med. Chem.: Anti-Cancer Agents  2004,  4:  509 
  • 2a Omura S. Iwai Y. Hirano A. Nakagawa A. Awaya J. Tsuchiya H. Takahashi Y. Masuma R. J. Antibiot.  1977,  30:  275 
  • 2b Furusaki A. Hashiba N. Matsumoto T. J. Chem. Soc., Chem. Commun.  1978,  800 
  • 2c Schupp P. Eder C. Proksch P. Wray VV. Schneider B. Herderich M. Paul V. J. Nat. Prod.  1999,  62:  959 
  • For total syntheses, see:
  • 3a Link JT. Raghavan S. Danishefsky SJ. J. Am. Chem. Soc.  1995,  117:  552 
  • 3b Link JT. Raghavan S. Gallant M. Chou TC. Ballas LM. Danishefsky SJ. J. Am. Chem. Soc.  1996,  118:  2825 
  • 3c Wood JL. Stoltz BM. Goodman SN. J. Am. Chem. Soc.  1996,  118:  10656 
  • 3d Wood JL. Stoltz BM. Goodman SN. Onwueme K. J. Am. Chem. Soc.  1997,  119:  9652 
  • 4 Omura S, Iwai Y, and Hirano A. inventors; Japan Kokai  7873,501.  ; Chem. Abstr. 1978, 89, 178086h
  • 5 Oka S. Kodama M. Takeda H. Tomizuka N. Suzuki H. Agric. Biol. Chem.  1986,  50:  2723 
  • 6a Hung DT. Jamison TF. Schreiber SL. Chem. Biol.  1996,  3:  623 
  • 6b Tamaoki T. Nomoto H. Takahashi I. Kato Y. Morimoto M. Tomita F. Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun.  1986,  135:  397 
  • 6c Yamada S. Hirota K. Chida K. Kuroki T. Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun.  1988,  157:  9 
  • 6d Fujita-Yamaguchi Y. Kathuria S. Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun.  1988,  157:  955 
  • 6e Sanchez-Martinez C. Shih C. Zhu G. Li T. Brooks HB. Patel BKR. Schultz RM. DeHahn TB. Spencer CD. Watkins SA. Ogg CA. Considine E. Dempsey JA. Zhang F. Bioorg. Med. Chem. Lett.  2003,  13:  3841 
  • 7a Bush JA. Long BH. Cationo JJ. Bradner WT. Tomita K. J. Antibiot.  1987,  40:  668 
  • 7b Nettleton DE. Doyle TW. Krishnan B. Matsumoto GK. Clardy J. Tetrahedron Lett.  1985,  26:  4011 
  • 7c Pommier Y. Curr. Med. Chem.: Anti-Cancer Agents  2004,  4:  429 
  • 7d Voldoire A. Moreau P. Sancelme M. Matulova M. Léonce S. Pierré A. Hickman J. Pfeiffer B. Renard P. Dias N. Bailly C. Prudhomme M. Bioorg. Med. Chem.  2004,  12:  1955 
  • 7e Woo MH. Vance JR. Otero Marcos AR. Bailly C. Bjornsti M.-A. J. Biol. Chem.  2002,  277:  3813 
  • 7f Moreau P. Anizon F. Sancelme M. Prudhomme M. Sevère D. Riou J.-F. Goossens J.-F. Hénichart J.-P. Bailly C. Labourier E. Tazzi J. Fabbro D. Meyer T. Aubertin AM. J. Med. Chem.  1999,  42:  1816 
  • 7g Bailly C. Riou J.-F. Colson P. Houssier C. Rodrigues-Pereira E. Prudhomme M. Biochemistry  1997,  36:  3917 
  • 7h Faul MM. Sullivan KA. Grutsch JL. Winneroski LL. Shih C. Sanchez-Martinez C. Cooper JT. Tetrahedron Lett.  2004,  45:  1095 
  • For total syntheses of rebeccamycin, see:
  • 8a Kaneko T. Wong H. Okamoto KT. Clardy J. Tetrahedron Lett.  1985,  26:  4015 
  • 8b Gallant M. Link JT. Danishefsky SJ. J. Org. Chem.  1993,  58:  343 
  • 8c Faul MM. Winneroski LL. Krumrich CA. J. Org. Chem.  1999,  64:  2465 
  • 9 Lam KS. Schroeder DR. Veitch JM. Colson KL. Matson JA. Rose WC. Doyle TW. Forenza S. J. Antibiot.  2001,  54:  1 
  • 10 Long BH. Rose WC. Vyas DM. Matson JA. Forenza S. Curr. Med. Chem.: Anti-Cancer Agents  2002,  2:  255 
  • 11 For the assembly of indolo[2,3-a]carbazoles via metalation-cross-coupling sequences, see: Cai X. Snieckus V. Org. Lett.  2004,  6:  2293 
  • 12 For the assembly of indolo[2,3-a]carbazoles via Pd-mediated endo-dig cyclizations, see: Saulnier MG. Frennesson DB. Deshpande MS. Vyas DM. Tetrahedron Lett.  1995,  36:  7841 
  • 13 For the assembly of indolo[2,3-a]carbazoles via chromium carbene complexes, see: Merlic CA. McInnes DM. You Y. Tetrahedron Lett.  1997,  38:  6787 
  • For the assembly of indolo[2,3-a]carbazoles by Diels-Alder reactions, see:
  • 14a Kuethe JT. Davies IW. Tetrahedron Lett.  2004,  45:  4009 
  • 14b Pindur U. Kim M.-H. Arch. Pharm.  1992,  325:  353 
  • 14c Nomak R. Snyder JK. Tetrahedron Lett.  2001,  42:  7929 
  • 14d Barry JF. Wallace TW. Walshe NDA. Tetrahedron  1995,  47:  12797 
  • For approaches to the indolo[2,3-a]carbazole ring system by double Fischer indolizations, see:
  • 15a Bergman J. Pelcman B. J. Org. Chem.  1989,  54:  824 
  • 15b Gribble GW. Berthel SJ. Tetrahedron  1992,  48:  8869 
  • 16a Link JT. Gallant M. Danishefsky SJ. Huber S. Tetrahedron Lett.  1994,  35:  5555 
  • 16b Beccalli EM. Gelmi ML. Marchesini A. Tetrahedron  1998,  54:  6909 
  • 16c Eils S. Winterfeldt E. Synthesis  1999,  275 
  • 16d Routier S. Coudert G. Mérour J.-Y. Caignard DH. Tetrahedron Lett.  2002,  43:  2561 
  • 16e Reddy GM. Chen S.-Y. Uang B.-J. Synthesis  2003,  497 
  • 16f Sanchez-Martinez C. Faul MM. Shih C. Sullivan KA. Grutsch JL. Cooper JT. Kolis SP. J. Org. Chem.  2003,  68:  8008 
  • 17a Joyce RP. Gainor JA. Weinreb SM. J. Org. Chem.  1987,  52:  1177 
  • 17b Kleinschroth J. Hartenstein J. Rudolph C. Schächtele C. Bioorg. Med. Chem. Lett.  1995,  5:  55 
  • 17c Chisholm JD. Van Vranken DL. J. Org. Chem.  2000,  65:  7541 
  • 17d Zhu G. Conner SE. Zhou X. Shih C. Li T. Anderson BD. Brooks HB. Campbell RM. Considine E. Dempsey JA. Faul MM. Ogg C. Patel B. Schultz RM. Spencer CD. Teicher B. Watkins SA. J. Med. Chem.  2003,  46:  2027 
  • 18 Faul MM. Sullivan KA. Tetrahedron Lett.  2001,  42:  3271 
  • 19a Harris W. Hill CH. Keech E. Malsher P. Tetrahedron Lett.  1993,  34:  8361 
  • 19b Beccalli EM. Gelmi ML. Marchesini A. Tetrahedron  1998,  54:  6909 
  • 20 Ohkubo M. Nishimura T. Jona H. Honma T. Morishima H. Tetrahedron  1996,  52:  8099 
  • 21a Ohkubo M. Kawamoto H. Ohno T. Nakano M. Morishima H. Tetrahedron  1997,  53:  585 
  • 21b Zembower DE. Zhang H. Lineswala JP. Kuffel MJ. Aytes SA. Ames MM. Bioorg. Med. Chem. Lett.  1999,  9:  145 
  • 22 Ohkubo M. Nishimura T. Jona H. Honma T. Ito S. Morishima H. Tetrahedron  1997,  53:  5937 
  • 23 Wang J. Rosingana M. Watson DJ. Dowdy ED. Discordia RP. Soundarajan N. Li W.-S. Tetrahedron Lett.  2001,  42:  8935 
  • 24a Steglich W. Steffan B. Kopanski L. Eckhardt G. Angew. Chem., Int. Ed. Engl.  1980,  19:  459 
  • 24b Brenner M. Rexhausen H. Steffan B. Steglich W. Tetrahedron  1988,  44:  2887 
  • 25 Grushin VV. Marshall WJ. Thorn DL. Adv. Synth. Catal.  2001,  343:  161 
  • 26a Kalinovskii IO. Lescheva AA. Kuteinikova MM. Gel’bshtein AI. Zh. Obshch. Khim.  1990,  60:  123 ; J. Gen. Chem. USSR (Engl. Transl.), 1990, 60, 108
  • 26b Leshcheva AA. Kalinovskii IO. Pogorelov VV. Noskov YG. Gel’bshtein AI. Kin. Katal.  1998,  39:  354 
  • 27 Choi D.-S. Huang S. Huang M. Barnard TS. Adams RD. Seminario JM. Tour JM. J. Org. Chem.  1998,  63:  2646 
  • 28 Bergman J. Koch E. Pelcman B. J. Chem. Soc., Perkin Trans. 1  2000,  2609 
  • 29 When this manuscript was in preparation, we became aware of a recent report on the design, synthesis and biological evaluation of a set of fluoroindolocarbazole glycosides including compound 3 as very selective topoisomerase I active agents. However, no experimental details were given: Balasubramanian BN. St. Laurent DR. Saulnier MG. Long BH. Bachand C. Beaulieu F. Clarke W. Deshpande M. Eummer J. Fairchild CR. Frennesson DB. Kramer R. Lee FY. Mahler M. Martel A. Naidu BN. Rose WC. Russell J. Ruediger E. Solomon C. Stoffan KM. Wong H. Zimmermann K. Vyas DM. J. Med. Chem.  2004,  47:  1609