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A reductive (3+2) annulation of lactams through iridium‐catalyzed hydrosilylation and photoredox coupling with α‐bromoacetic acid was developed. The iridium‐catalyzed hydrosilylation of the lactam carbonyl group and subsequent elimination provide a transient cyclic enamine, which undergoes iridium‐catalyzed photoredox coupling with α‐bromoacetic acid in a one‐pot process. The developed conditions show high functional‐group tolerance and provide cyclic N,O‐acetals containing a quaternary carbon center. The resulting N,O‐acetals undergo a variety of acid‐mediated nucleophilic addition reactions via iminium ions to give substituted cyclic amines. The developed sequence including reductive (3+2) annulation and acid‐mediated nucleophilic addition was successfully applied to the four‐step total synthesis of (±)‐eburnamonine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Totally substituted butenolide including two tetrasubstituted olefins is a distinct structural motif seen in Stemona alkaloids, but efficient methods for its synthesis are not well developed. As an ongoing program aimed at the collective total synthesis of the stemoamide group, we report a stereodivergent method to give either (E)- or (Z)-totally substituted butenolide from the same intermediate. While AgOTf--mediated elimination via an E1-type mechanism results in the formation of the kinetic (Z)-tetrasubstituted olefin, subsequent TfOH-mediated isomerization gives the thermodynamic (E)-tetrasubstituted olefin. The pyrrole ring is another important structure found in Stemona alkaloids. The direct oxidation of pyrrolidine rings with MnO2 and careful purification gives the pyrrole groups without isomerization of the stereocenter in the lactone group. These two methods enabled us to synthesize a series of stemoamide-type alkaloids including tricyclic, tetracyclic, and pentacyclic frameworks. The anti-inflammatory activities by inhibition of iNOS expression in macrophage cell line RAW264.7 indicate that the most potent anti-inflammatory compounds without cytotoxicity are protostemonines, which consist of pentacyclic frameworks including the totally substituted butenolide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]