A molecular iodine mediated oxidative cross-coupling of beta-keto ester sp(3) C-H with 1H-indole sp(2) C-H was developed for the synthesis of indolo[2,3-b]carbazoles. A self-sequenced iodination/Kornblum oxidation/hydrolyzation/decarboxylative/deacylation/aromatization mechanism has been proposed as a possible reaction sequence to account for the results observed in this ...