Catalytic asymmetric synthesis of cyclic amino acids and alkaloid derivatives: application to (+)-dihydropinidine and Selfotel synthesis

Abstract

An asymmetric synthesis of cyclic amino acids having piperidine and azepane core structures was realized starting from readily available glycine and alanine esters by combination of phase-transfer catalyzed asymmetric alkylation and subsequent reductive amination. Some of these key intermediates were successfully transformed to natural alkaloid dihydropinidine and N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) antagonist Selfotel.