3-Alkenyl-oxindoles: Natural Products, Pharmaceuticals, and Recent Synthetic Advances in Tandem/Telescoped Approaches

The structures and biological activities of naturally occurring 3-alkenyl-oxindoles are reviewed. Important man-made 3-alkenyl-oxindoles are covered, particularly those with pharmaceutical applications such as sunitinib (SU11248), the orally active receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor marketed by Pfizer as Sutent (R). Traditional synthetic approaches to 3-alkenyl-oxindoles are summarised and then recently developed tandem/telescoped synthetic routes are described.