Novel Asymmetric Synthesis of an Indolizidine Alkaloid, (+)-Lentiginosine Employing Highly Stereoselective Hydrogenation of α-Hydroxypyrrolidine

Abstract

An efficient and novel process is described for the asymmetric synthesis of a (1S,2S,8aS)-dihydroxyindolizidine alkaloid, (+)-lentiginosine in which the asymmetric deoxygenation of the quaternary α-hydroxypyrrolidine derivative derived from D-xylose is used as a key step.