Transition-Metal-Mediated Chemo- and Stereoselective Total Synthesis of (-)-Galanthamine.

An asymmetric synthetic route to (-)-galanthamine (1), a pharmacologically active Amaryllidaceae alkaloid used for the symptomatic treatment of early onset Alzheimer's disease, was successfully established with very high levels of stereocontrol. The key to achieving high chemo- and stereo-selectivity in this approach was the use of transition-metal-mediated reactions, namely, enyne ring-closing metathesis, Heck coupling, and titanium-based asymmetric allylation.

Total syntheses of (-) epilupinine and (-)-tashiromine using imino-aldol reactions.

Short routes to enantiomerically pure indolizidine and quinolizidine alkaloids have been developed using imino-aldol reactions of enolates derived from phenyl 5-chlorovalerate. High levels of syn selectivity (dr ∼13-16:1) were obtained using lithium enolates of phenyl esters in combination with tert-butylsulfinyl imines. The imino-aldol adducts were deprotected and cyclized to afford (-)-epilupinine ((-)-2) and (-)-tashiromine ((-)-1) in two further steps.