A concise synthesis of furostifoline by tetrabutylammonium fluoride-promoted indole ring formation.

Furostifoline, a furo[3,2-a]carbazole alkaloid, was synthesized in 10% overall yield in four steps from 2-acetyl-3-bromofuran. The key step of this synthesis was the 2-substituted indole formation with tetrabutylammonium fluoride (TBAF) from 2-(2-propenyl)-3-((2-ethoxycarbonylamino)phenylethynyl)furan, which was easily prepared from ethyl 2-ethynylphenylcarbamate with 3-bromo-2-(2-propenyl)furan by the Sonogashira reaction.