An expedient synthesis of ellipticine via Suzuki-Miyaura coupling

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·H2O as an additive in DMSO/H2O as a key step followed by double N-arylation and cyclization.