Total synthesis of pinnamine and anatoxin-a via a common intermediate. A caveat on the anatoxin-a endgame

This paper describes the total synthesis of the naturally occurring alkaloids pinnamine (1) and anatoxin-a (2) from a common enantiomerically pure intermediate (7) easily available from pyroglutamic acid. The synthesis of enantiopure pinnamine proceeded in 10 steps and 4.8% overall yield, and the route was flexible enough to allow stereocontrolled access to a non-natural congener (5-epi-pinnamine) of the natural product. Intramolecular reaction of an N-acyl iminium ion was a key step in the synthesis of both pinnamine and anatoxin-a. However, in stark contrast to literature precedent, complete racemization was observed during the reaction of the N-acyliminium ion leading to the latter alkaloid.