Synthesis of Heterocyclic Ring Systems Using Organometallic Reagents

1Introduction We developed novel synthetic routes to heterocyclic ring systems by using transition metal-mediated or -catalyzed reactions. A Lewis acid-promoted addition of the propargyl Grignard reagent 2 to the Schiff base 1 followed by a silvermediated oxidative cyclization of the homopropargylamine 3 provided the aryl-substituted pyrrole 4. Combined with a chemoselective hydrogenation of the pyrrole ring, this method has been applied to the total synthesis of the biologically active fused indolizidine alkaloids ( ± )-harmicine and ( ± )-crispine A[1]. See Fig. 1.