A β-carboline-1-one mimic of the anticancer Amaryllidaceae constituent pancratistatin: Synthesis and biological evaluation

New drug design possibilities are suggested by the results of a biological evaluation of the indole derivative 1 of pancratistatin, a known anticancer agent, in a panel of cancer cell lines. Enzymatic dihydroxylation was one of the key steps in the short, enantioselective synthesis of 1.