6-Methylellipticine (6) undergoes acylation at the C (9)-position, under Friedel Crafts reaction conditions. The C (9)-formyl compound (8) rearranges to the corresponding hydroxy derivative (9) upon treatment with hydrogen peroxide, in methanol, in the presence of sulphuric acid. The two steps provide a convenient procedure for the specific C (9)- hydroxylation of the ellipticine template.
