Asymmetric Construction of Benzindoloquinolizidine: Application of An Organocatalytic Enantioselective Conjugate Addition-Cyclization Cascade Reaction

We have developed the synthetic methodology of enantioenriched benzindoloquinolizidines based on the organocatalytic enantioselective conjugate addition-cyclization cascade reaction of o-N-(3-indoleacetyl)amino-cinnamaldehydes with malonates followed by an acid-catalyzed intramolecular Pictet-Spengler type cyclization. The asymmetric reaction using diphenylprolinol TMS ether as an organocatalyst produces the desired products with good to excellent yields and high enantioselectivities (up to 98% ee). The evaluation of the applications of this synthetic methodology for generating enantioenriched benzindolo-quinolizidines and studies on the biological activity of these compounds against human prostate cancer in particular are now in progress. Results of these studies will be presented in due course. Many new types of chemical reactions have been developed to facilitate easier synthesis of complex compounds. Among the strategies, domino reactions, which have been utilized for the efficient and stereoselective construction of complex molecules from simple precursors in a single process, are widely used due to their high synthetic efficiency by reducing both the number of synthetic operation required and the quantities of chemicals and solvents used