Bis(indolyl)methane skeleton is the main building block of many naturally occurring
bioactive compounds. Bis(indolyl)methanes are found to possess a wide range of
pharmaceuitical efficacies. These important scaffolds are being used as anti-cancer, antioxidant,
anti-bacterial, anti-inflammatory, and anti-proliferative agents. In this review, we
summarized the latest developments on the synthesis of various bis/tris(indolyl)methane
derivatives from the reactions of two equivalents of indoles and one equivalent of aldehydes
or indole-3-carbaldehydes under various reaction conditions. More than hundred
different catalysts were employed for these transformations which include various metal
catalysts, ionic liquids, organocatalysts, surfactants, homogeneous, heterogeneous catalysts
etc.