Organic Chemistry Insights

This review describes the latest synthetic methods found in the literature for the construction of complex natural products containing the spiro[pyrrolidine-3,3′-oxindole] ring system and other oxindoles that are closely related. The spirooxindole system is the central structure of many different types of natural products and synthetic drugs, which are associated with various biological activities. The well-known interest that these compounds inspire in academia, as well as in industry together with our efforts toward the total synthesis of sarpagine-/macroline-related oxindoles inspired us to review this topic. Herein, the strategies used by other expert groups in the field of synthetic organic chemistry and their results are presented in a critical way. The examples were selected on the basis of the elegant way chemists resolved their synthetic challenges. Many other excellent syntheses of complex oxindoles can be found in the literature, but were not included due to the limit in the length of this manuscript.