modern organic synthesis, chemoselectivity is recognized as an important factor in the development of new methodologies. Chemoselective nucleophilic addition to amide carbonyl centers is a challenge because classical methods require harsh reaction conditions to overcome the poor electrophilicity of the amide carbonyl group. We have successfully developed a reductive nucleophilic addition of mild nucleophiles
the total synthesis of (±)‐gephyrotoxin has been developed. The key to success was the utilization of N‐methoxyamides, which enabled the direct coupling of the amide with an aldehyde and selective reductive nucleophilic addition to the amide in the presence of a variety of sensitive and electrophilic functional groups, such as a methyl ester. This chemoselective approach minimized the use of protecting‐group