Synthesis of the alkaloids (-)-heliotridane and (-)-isoretronecanol via π-allyltricarbonyliron lactam complexes

Article abstract of DOI:10.1016/0040-4039(91)85056-B

A novel synthesis of the pyrrolizidine alkaloids (-)-heliotridane (1) and (-)-isoretronecanol (2) is described. The key steps involve the conversion of a proline-derived carbamate (10) into the π-allyltricarbonyliron lactam complex (4) and the exhaustive carbonylation of this to give the pivotal intermediate γ-lactam (3). Lactam (3) has been converted into the title compounds by standard methods