Naturally occurring hyacinthacines B-1 and B-2 have been prepared from a common, easily available, advanced intermediate. The approach features several highly stereoselective transformations: inter alia, a dichloroketene-enol ether [2 + 2] cycloaddition, a Bruylants alkylation, and an amino-nitrile alkylation-reduction.
An enantiomerically and diastereomericallypure route has been developed for the first asymmetricsynthesis of (1S,2R,3R,5R,7aR)- and (1S,2R,3R,5S,7aR)-1,2-dihydroxy-3,5-dihydroxymethylpyrrolizidine, hyacinthacine B1 and B2, featuring efficient and stereodefined elaboration via the asymmetric dihydroxylation (AD) of the functionalized homochiral pyrrolidine derivative prepared from (S)-(−)-2-pyrrolidone-5-carboxylic