Regioselective Synthesis of Ellipticine

An eight‐step synthesis of the tetracyclic pyridocarbazole alkaloid ellipticine (= 5,11‐dimethyl‐6H‐pyrido[4,3‐b]carbazole; 1a ) in an overall yield of 13% is reported, starting from 4,7‐dimethyl‐1H‐indene. Key steps were iodination, Suzuki coupling, reductive cyclization, DDQ oxidation, and heterocyclization under loss of H₂O.