Monoterpenoid indole alkaloids (MIAs) represent a major class of active ingredients from the plants of the genus Gelsemium. Gelsemium MIAs with diverse chemical structures can be divided into six categories: gelsedine-, gelsemine-, humantenine-, koumine-, sarpagine- and yohimbane-type. Additionally, gelsemium MIAs exert a wide range of bioactivities, including anti-tumour, immunosuppression, anti-anxiety, analgesia, and so on. Owing to their fascinating structures and potent pharmaceutical properties, these gelsemium MIAs arouse significant organic chemists' interest to design state-of-the-art synthetic strategies for their total synthesis. In this review, we comprehensively summarised recently reported novel gelsemium MIAs, potential pharmacological activities of some active molecules, and total synthetic strategies covering the period from 2013 to 2022. It is expected that this study may open the window to timely illuminate and guide further study and development of gelsemium MIAs and their derivatives in clinical practice.
Keywords: Gelsemium genus; biological activity; monoterpenoid indole alkaloids; new chemical structure; synthetic chemistry.