Overview of the synthesis of carbazoloquinone natural products

Carbazoloquinone alkaloids are the focus of intensive research due to their clinical potential as anti-malaria, anti-cancer, and neuronal protection agents. The synthetic strategies employed to generate the carbazoloquinone framework are often developed in the setting of natural product total synthesis. In this Digest we discuss recent synthetic strategies used to access three families of naturally occurring carbazoloquinone molecules: the murrayaquinones, the calothrixins, and the bismurrayaquinones. While concise and highly efficient strategies to some of these compounds have been reported, challenges and opportunities remain for the development of new approaches to carbazoloquinone natural products.