Polycyclic aromatic nitrogen-containing heterocyclic compounds are an important class of nitrogen-containing heterocyclic compounds, which have been widely used in drugs and materials, and indole-fused pyridine compounds are one of them. At present, the methods for the synthesis of these compounds were less reported. Based on previous work, a new route to 2-substituted pyrido[2,3-b]indole derivatives was developed, which employed 2-(2-aminophenyl)acetonitrile derivatives and N,N-dimethyl enaminones as the reaction substrates. The reaction provided the desired product with high selectivity and efficiency.

Key words: pyrido[2,3-b]indole, iron salts, N, N-dimethyl enaminones, high selectivity