Enantioselective Synthesis of Nicotine via an Iodine-Mediated Hofmann-Loffler Reaction

An iodine-mediated Hofmann-Loffler reaction has been developed that enables the first enantioselective synthesis of nicotine based on this synthetic methodology. The effect of the free pyridine core on the involved electrophilic iodine reagents was explored in detail. The final synthesis proceeds under moderate reaction conditions that tolerate the free pyridine core. The same synthetic sequence is also applicable to a number of derivatives with higher substituted pyridine cores, including bipyridine derivatives.