A new approach to (-)-anisomycin

Abstract

(R)-(-)-1-Benzyloxycarbonyl-2-(4-methoxyphenyl)methyl-3-pyrroline (16) was prepared from (S)-malic acid. The key steps involved a highly regio and trans stereoselective reductive alkylation of N-benzylmalimide (4). This constitutes a formal asymmetric synthesis of natural (-)-anisomycin (2).