Expeditious synthesis of cis-1-methyl-2,3,3a,4,5,9b-hexahydro-1H-pyrrolo-[3,2h]isoquinoline/[2,3-f]quinoline via azomethine ylide-alkene [3+2] cycloaddition

Expeditious syntheses of cis-1-methyl-2,3,3a,4,5,9b-hexahydro-1H-pyrrolo-[3,2h]isoquinoline/[2,3-f]quinoline have been developed. The syntheses started with commercially available materials and afforded excellent overall yields in straightforward steps. Intramolecular azomethine ylide-alkene [3+2] cycloaddition is the key step in the construction of these pyrroloisoquinoline and pyrroloquinoline scaffolds. This route is much more atom-economic than those reported in the literature and is appropriate for scale-up synthesis.