Progress on synthesis of phenazine-1-carboxylic acid and its derivatives

Phenazine-1-carboxylic acid (PCA) is a natural product widely exist in metabolites of Pseudomonads and Streptomycetes. PCA has anticancer activity and fungicidal activity against Rhizoctonia solani Palo, Fusarium oxysporum, Sclerotinia sclerotiorum and etc. PCA is an environment-friendly compound and harmless to humans and animals with special chemical structures. In this paper, the advances in the synthesis of phenazine-1-carboxylic acid are reviewed. The key reaction of each synthetic route has been analyzed. Both advantages and disadvantages of the approaches are discussed.