Indoles continue to be of great interest to the pharmaceutical industry and at the current time several thousand specific new derivatives are reported annually. Research has been driven by the wide range of indole derivatives which occur in nature and through the biological activity of many indole derivatives, of both natural and synthetic origin. This book provides a systematic guide to the most useful and important reactions in the field for both synthesis and synthetic modification of the indole ring. While including the most recently developed and promising methods, it also updates information available on classical methods to give the reader an up-to-date and comprehensive view of the subject. The methods are illustrated by procedures drawn from the literature and by tables including examples chosen to indicate both the scope of applicability and variations in methodology. The organization of the book is based on the retrosynthetic concept of identifying the bond(s) formed in the reaction, which in turn identifies potential starting materials. It includes systematic summaries of the most important methods for the construction of indoles from aromatic precursors. It discusses methods for preparing indoles by annelation of pyrroles. It covers methods for adding or modifying substituent groups, including methods for introducing the tryptamine and tryptophan side-chains. It examines reduction/oxidation reactions that are specific for indoles, and considers use of cycloaddition reactions for synthetic elaboration of indoles.