Total synthesis of 8-oxypseudopalmatine and 8-oxypseudoberberine via ring-closing metathesis

Concise synthesis of 8-oxypseudopalmatine and 8-oxypseudoberberine has been achieved using ruthenium-catalyzed ring-closing metathesis (RCM) as the key step, in which the RCM substrates, 3-arylisoquinolinones, were prepared by lithiated cycloaddition reaction with o-toluamides and benzonitriles.