A lot of work had been carried out on the acridone nucleus due to its variety of pharmacological activities. These pharmacological activities include anticancer, antimicrobial, antiviral, antimalarial and anti-inflammatory activities. Acridone and its derivatives can be synthesized by a number of methods such as Ullmann condensation, by benzyne mechanism, by radical reaction of quinines etc. This review article summerizes the synthesis, literature survey and pharmacological activities of acridone and its derivatives. A special emphasis is laid on the recent literature of acridone nucleus.