Total syntheses and antiproliferative activities of prenostodione and its analogues

A high-yielding total synthesis of the indole alkaloid prenostodione was completed in 4 steps and 44% overall yield from 1H-indole-3-carboxylic acid. The expedient syntheses of prenostodiones containing distinct substituents at the para position of the phenyl frame underscored the scope of this methodology. The cytotoxic activities of the tert-butyl esters of prenostodione analogues were tested using six tumor cell lines. Preliminary...