Preparation method and application of 3-amino-beta-carboline

The invention discloses a preparation method of 3-amino-beta-carboline. The preparation method of the 3-amino-beta-carboline comprises the following steps: (1) performing basic hydrolysis to obtain beta-carboline-3-formic acid, wherein beta-carboline-3-ethyl formate serves as a raw material; and (2) performing Lossen rearrangement reaction on the beta-carboline-3-formic acid and hydroxylamine hydrochloride in a polyphosphoric acid system to obtain the 3-amino-beta-carboline. The preparation method provided by the invention is few in reaction steps, high in production efficiency, simple in process, convenient in synthesis and easy to control, and the used solvent can be recycled; furthermore, use of toxic substances is avoided, potential safety hazard is eliminated, the environment risk is greatly reduced, and the preparation method is safe and simple in operation and suitable for industrialized production. The obtained 3-amino-beta-carboline has a high blue light emitting characteristic in a solution or in a solid state and can directly serve as a blue light-emitting material.