Antineoplastic Agents. 454. Synthesis of the Strong Cancer Cell Growth Inhibitors trans-Dihydronarciclasine and 7-Deoxy-trans-dihydronarciclasine

To further pursue the antineoplastic leads offered by Our isolation of trans-dihydronarciclasine (1a) and 7-deoxy-trans-dihydronarciclasine (1c) from two medicinal plant species of the Amaryllidaceae family, a practical palladium-catalyzed hydrogenation procedure was developed for the synthesis of these isocarbostyrils from narciclasine (2a) and 7-deoxynarciclasine (2c).