Recent progress in synthesis and pharmacological effects of ellipticine and its derivatives

Ellipticine is an alkaloid isolated from natural product with cytotoxicity, which has antitumor and anti-aids activity. Since it was first identified in 1959, a great deal of effort has been devoted to the development of various approaches for synthesis of ellipticine. This review provides a summary for synthesis approaches of ellipticine from different starting materials. The antitumor mechanism and structure-activity relationship are also discussed.