The synthesis of biologically active molecules represents an important aspect of organic chemistry. Renewables, and their respective green syntheses, embody another essential aspect of organic chemistry receiving growing interest. Chapter 1 describes extensions of the Kraus indole synthesis toward 2-substituted and 2,3-disubstituted indoles, as well as biologically attractive indolo[2,1-a]isoquinolines. Chapter 2 describes our recent synthetic work directed toward commodity maleic acid and the first reported furan-based ionic liquids from renewable feedstocks. Chapter 3 describes our total synthesis of an mRNA aptamer ligand, PDC-Gly, and its dye coupled forms, plus aminoglycoside dye coupled ligands used in molecular imaging.