Facile one-pot synthesis of 6-monosubstituted and 6,12-disubstituted 5,11-dihydroindolo[3,2-b]carbazoles and preparation of various functionalized derivatives.

A facile three-stage, one-pot approach for the synthesis of a variety of novel 6-monosubstituted and 6,12-disubstituted 5,11-dihydroindolo[3,2-b]carbazoles, in moderate to good yields (20-50%), has been developed, based on the condensation of an indole and an aldehyde with a catalytic amount of iodine, followed by an acid-catalyzed intramolecular cyclization with an ortho ester. The parent indolo[3,2-b]carbazoles (ICZs) could be converted to various functional derivatives. Both N-alkylation and N-arylation were successfully accomplished, and azo-coupling, formylation, as well as bromination were performed in a regioselective way leading to the formation of novel functional 6,12-disubstituted indolo[3,2-b]carbazoles. Starting from a monoformylated indolocarbazole, novel benzimidazolyl-substituted derivatives were synthesized, while Suzuki cross-couplings on a monobrominated building block afforded a novel pathway toward functionally arylated ICZs.