Annulations of isoquinoline and β-carboline ring systems: synthesis of 8-oxoprotoberberine derivatives

Annulation processes of isoquinoline and β-carboline compounds have been investigated leading to synthetic routes for the preparation of 8-oxoprotoberberine derivatives. The key steps combined a diene formation/Diels-Alder cycloaddition reaction to afford the targeted polycyclic skeletons. Further oxidative transformations of the cycloadducts produced the 8-oxoprotoberberine type products. The alkaloids of this class are important natural products with a wide range of biological activity and the synthethic methodology described in this paper could prove to be useful for the preparation of the D-ring functionalised derivatives.