A Concise Enantioselective Total Synthesis of (−)-Deoxoapodine

We have established a highly convergent 10-step route for the total synthesis of (−)-deoxoapodine, which is a hexacyclic aspidosperma alkaloid. The quaternary C5 center of the characteristic tetrahydrofuran ring was constructed by a chiral-phosphoric-acid-catalyzed enantioselective bromocycloetherification in a 5-endo fashion and subsequent allylation by using the Keck protocol. Construction of the aspidosperma skeleton features the formation of a nine-membered lactam by a catalytic C−H palladation/alkylation cascade at the indole 2-position and an iron-catalyzed oxidative transannular reaction at a late-stage of the synthesis.