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This paper presents a synthesis of ent-alantrypinone (ent-6), the enantiomer of a natural product produced by the fungus Penicillium thymicola. The synthesis revolves around the Li[Me(3)AlSPh]-promoted isomerization of iminobenzoxazine 33 to quinazolinone 34, an N-acyliminium ion cyclization that converts enamide 9 to bridged indole 35, and rearrangement of 35 to oxindole ent-6. Ancillary chemistry that involves thermal fragmentation of an iminobenzoxazine to a nitrile ylide and Me(2)AlSPh-mediated cyclization of oxime ether-ester 22 to pyrrolidinone 23 is also described.

This Communication describes a cascade reaction sequence that leads to highly functionalized cyclohexenones starting from reaction of cyclobutenones with alpha-lithio-alpha,beta-unsaturated sulfones and amides. The hexatriene-cyclohexadiene cyclization steps presumed to be involved in these transformations are among the most facile hexatriene electrocyclizations reported thus far.

This paper presents reactions in which the putative cationic intermediate in the Morin rearrangement is trapped by aromatic carbon nucleophiles (indoles and furans). For example, reaction of sulfoxide 27 with trifluoroacetic acid in chloroform provides, among other products, indole 29 and indoline 30. The indoline was shown to be in equilibrium with the nine-membered ring bridged indole 31. Other examples of Morin rearrangement-trapping reactions are presented, and mechanisms for these transformations are proposed.

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A new and practical synthesis of terminally substituted 3-vinylindoles is described involving tributylphosphine-mediated coupling of gramines with aldehydes.

Two approaches to the synthesis of isoschizogamine were reported. Both routes utilized an efficient aza-Claisen rearrangement to establish the absolute stereochemistry of the all-carbon quaternary center in the natural product. In the first approach, a highly diastereoselective (10:1) hetero-Diels-Alder reaction was utilized to reach a densely functionalized tetrahydroquinoline derivative as an advanced intermediate to the targeted alkaloid. An acylamidine intermediate was prepared and studied in the intramolecular cyclization reaction under acidic conditions in our second approach.

[reaction: see text] Acid-catalyzed condensation of aromatic amines with delta,epsilon-unsaturated aldehydes, followed by intramolecular formal hetero Diels-Alder reaction, is described as a potential route to the cyclopenta[b]quinoline substructure of isoschizozygane alkaloids. Reactions are highly diastereoselective and produce adducts with up to four contiguous stereocenters.