Highly Diastereoselective Zinc-Catalyzed Propargylation of tert-Butanesulfinyl Imines

A zinc-catalyzed diastereoselective propargylation of t-butanesulfinyl imines is presented. The methodology provided both aliphatic and aryl homopropargylic amines in up to 98:2 and 99.8:0.2 dr, respectively. The utility of the homopropargylic amines was demonstrated by the application to the synthesis of a cis-substituted pyrido-indole through a diastereoselective Pictet-Spengler cyclization.