Diastereoselective Intramolecular Carbamoylketene/Alkene [2+2] Cycloaddition: Enantioselective Access to Pyrrolidinoindoline Alkaloids

A novel and highly diastereoselective intramolecular carbamoylketene/alkene [2 + 2] cycloaddition has been developed, and the methodology was successfully applied to the enantioselective syntheses of (-)-esermethole and Takayama's intermediate for (+)-psychotrimine.