Enantioselective total synthesis of a natural hydrocarbazolone alkaloid, identification of its stereochemistry, and revision of its spectroscopic data

Abstract

The natural hydrocarbazolone alkaloid (1R,2R,3R)-3-hydroxy-1,2-dimethyl-1,2,3,9-tetrahydro-4H-carbazol-4-one has been synthesized in a catalytic and enantioselective manner. A key hydrocarbazole derivative was constructed by the holmium-catalyzed Diels-Alder reaction of (silyloxyvinyl)indole as the diene. Total synthesis of the natural product clarified the ambiguity in the spectroscopic data reported for natural products.