A set of fluorescent ladder-type indolo[3,2-a]carbazoles were rationally developed via cascade annulation of indoles and nitroolefins under mild reaction conditions. Diverse functional groups were tolerated. Moreover, structure–photophysical properties relationships (SPPR) of indolo[3,2-a]carbazoles were observed to be simply tuned by changing the electronic nature of the peripheral substituents.
This work demonstrates that ferrocene could be an excellent scaffold for chiral organocatalysts.