Formal Total Synthesis of (+)-Lysergic Acid via Zinc(II)-Mediated Regioselective Ring-Opening Reduction of 2-Alkynyl-3-indolyloxirane

Asymmetric formal synthesis of (+)-lysergic acid was achieved with a reductive ring-opening reaction of chiral 2-alkynyl-3-indolyloxirane with NaBH3CN as the key step. With Zn(OTf)(2) as an additive, the ring-opening reaction proceeded regioselectively at the 3-position to give the corresponding propargyl alcohol, which was a precursor of the allenic amide for palladium-catalyzed domino cyclization to construct the ergot alkaloid core structure.