Luotonin A is a new heteroaromatic pyrroloquinazolinoquinoline alkaloid isolated from the aerial parts of Peganum nigellasterum (Chinese Bunge), a Chinese medicinal plant used for the treatment of rheumatism, in?ammation, abscesses and other maladies. Owing to its pharmaceutical activities, attention was focused on the development of new synthetic methods for luotonin A. Its synthetic methods were reviewed according to the types of building chemical structures. Most synthetic methods used 3-oxo-1H-pyrrolo[3,4-b]quinoline or its derivatives as starting material through complicated steps. Hence, the simple and convenient methods were still needed to further study.

Key words: luotonin A, synthesis, biomimetic synthesis