Development of iminium ion cascade methodologies and their application to the synthesis of complex molecules

In the interests of synthetic efficiency several cascade reactions involving iminium ion intermediates have developed to allow for the rapid assembly of complex molecules from relatively simple starting materials. A cascade methodology for the rapid, diastereoselective synthesis of quinolizidine ring systems has been expanded to encompass a greater range of substrates. The utility of this extension was demonstrated in the efficient syntheses of the tricyclic core structures found in halichlorine and the cylindricine family of alkaloids. Additionally a second cascade sequence has been developed that progresses through an S[subscript N]1 followed by nucleophilic attack on an N-acyl iminium ion to deliver the products of a formal [4+3] cycloaddition. This methodology has been successfully employed to synthesize a [3.3.2] bridgehead system that serves as a key intermediate in a proposed synthesis of (±)-actinophyllic acid. Synthesis of this compound represent progress in the ongoing effort to synthesize this natural product.Chemistr