N,N-Dimethylformamide (DMF) dineopentyl acetal-mediated O-alkylations of 9-hydroxyellipticine gave 9-ethoxy-, 9-(l-methylethoxy)-, and 9-(1,l-dimethylethoxy)ellipticine (3a, 4a, and Sa, respectively). Methylation of the O-alkylellipticines gave the corresponding N-methylpyridinium iodides (3b, 4b, and 5b). The iodides were converted to the acetates (3c, 4c, and 5c) by ion- exchange resin. Attempts to prepare 9-(2,2,2-trifluoroethoxy)ellipticine (6a) using the DMF acetal ...