Unified enantioselective total syntheses of (-)-scholarisine G, (+)-melodinine E, (-)-leuconoxine and (-)-mersicarpine.

A unified strategy enabled the enantioselective syntheses of (-)-scholarisine G, (+)-melodinine E, (-)-leuconoxine and (-)-mersicarpine from a common 2-alkylated indole intermediate bearing an all-carbon quaternary stereogenic center. The Smith-modified Madelung indole synthesis was used to couple simple o-toluidine with chiral lactone (+)-8, incorporating the key elements for further cyclizations. Lactone (+)-8 was prepared via a palladium-catalyzed intermolecular asymmetric allylic alkylation. The unified and protecting-group-free reaction sequences allowed the synthesis of these alkaloids in a maximum of 10 steps and with high efficiency.