4-Hydroxy-5-phenylpyrido[3,2,1-jk]carbazol-6-ones (4, 5), which were obtained from carbazoles 1 and malonates 2 or 3, were converted to reactive intermediates such as 4-chlorides 9 or 4-tosylates 10, which gave in turn 4-azido-5-phenyl derivatives 11. 5-Alkyl-4-azides 11 were not obtained in this manner; however a new one-pot azidation reaction was developed starting from 4-hydroxy derivatives 4 which gave azides 11 in good yields. 4-Azido-5-phenyl derivative 11f cyclized on thermolysis to the indole 12. The thermal behaviour of the azides 11 was studied by thermoanalytical methods (DSC).J. Heterocyclic Chem., 42, 85 (2005).Pyrido[3,2,1-jk]carbazol-6-one is part of the heterocyclic skeleton of many natural products (e.g., strychnos alkaloids such as strychninolones and brucinolones [2], picrasidin Q [3] and olivacine alkaloids [4]). It possesses the biologically interesting combination of indole and 2-pyridone structures. Moreover, some derivatives have found interest in pharmacological [5] or in dye chemistry [6]. Our interest is focused to 4-hydroxy-5-substituted pyrido[3,2,1-jk]carbazol-6-ones (4, 5) which possess 2 reactive positions: the hydroxy group at C-4, which can be substituted by various nucleophiles, and the CH-acidic proton at C-5, which reacts with a large number of electrophiles. In this contribution we want to report an improved synthesis of 4-hydroxy-5-substituted pyrido-[3,2,1-jk]carbazol-6-ones, the acetylation, tosylation and the nucleophilic exchange of the hydroxy groups.The synthesis of some 4-hydroxy-5-substituted pyrido[3,2,1-jk]carbazol-6-ones 4 is described in the literature in a few cases either by thermal condensation of malonates 2 with carbazole 1a at about 300 °C with moderate yields [7], or by thermal condensation of dichlorophenylmalonates with carbazole 1 at 260 °C with good yields [8]. We adopted the cyclocondensation methods of malonates with 1,3-dinucleophiles earlier described for quinolones and related compounds [9] for the synthesis of 4-hydroxy-5-substituted pyrido[3,2,1-jk]carbazol-6-ones 4 and 5. The first reaction step leads in a condensation reaction at about 200 °C to the monoanilides of the carbazole 1a with the malonates 2; the end of this reaction step can be easily observed by the end of ethanol evolution; further thermolysis at higher temperatures (300-350 °C) gives, by elimination of the second equivalent of ethanol, an intermediate α-oxo ketene which attacks in an electrophilic reaction the ortho-position of the aromatic ring to cyclize to the pyrido[3,2,1-jk]carbazol-6-ones 4. The yields of this reaction type are within 60-90% except with the octadecyl malonate 2j; in this case only 24% of 4j was obtained. It was also possible to carry out this reaction in one step without interruption when a 1:1 mixture of the malonate and the carbazole 1a was heated for 12 hours in refluxing diphenyl ether solution which limits the thermolysis temperature to 253 °C. The yields are within 60-80% comparable to the stepwise reaction; the workup however is easier and the purit...