An expedient synthesis of ellipticine via Suzuki–Miyaura coupling

Abstract A simple and efficient total synthesis of ellipticine was developed via the Suzuki–Miyaura coupling of sterically sensitive 2-hydroxybenzeneboronic acid with a multifunctional aryl halide using Pd(OAc) 2 as a catalyst and Cu(OAc) 2 ·H 2 O as an additive in DMSO/H 2 O as a key step followed by double N-arylation and cyclization.