The total synthesis of the title compound has been accomplished. A key step involves the oxidativerearrangement of the
-carboline derivative to an oxindole via the action of
N-bromosuccinimide. From thispoint, a diketopiperazine was introduced. A thiophenyl group served as a precursor of the isopropylidenefunction. Implementation of the same sort of chemistry starting with a methoxytryptophan derivative led tothe parent structures. Furthermore, it was shown that the difficultly accessible isopropylidene side chain ofspirotryprostatin A is not necessary for biological activity. Moreover, three analogues lacking the diketopiperazinesystem were shown to be quite active as cell cycle inhibitors.