Gold-Catalyzed Construction of Poly-Cyclic Bridged Indolines by Activating Alkynes

Indoline alkaloids possess remarkable biological activities, including anticancer, antimalarial, analgesic, and antiarrhythmic effects. Their scarce natural availability underscores the need for efficient synthetic approaches. Gold catalysts excel in activating pi-systems, enabling highly selective hydrofunctionalization and cyclization reactions. Over the last two decades, they have emerged as a powerful tool for constructing complex natural product core structures. Several research groups have recently developed gold-catalyzed strategies as powerful tools for constructing complex indoline frameworks via cyclization, alkylation, and dearomative cycloaddition. Despite notable progress, a comprehensive review of this topic remains absent. This review highlights recent advancements, mechanistic insights, and the pivotal role of gold catalysis in crafting biologically significant polycyclic bridged indoline scaffolds, offering a valuable resource for researchers in organic synthesis.