Rapid and enantioselective assembly of the lycorine framework using chemoenzymatic techniques.

The pentacyclic framework associated with the alkaloid (-)-lycorine (1) can be assembled in as few as six steps from the enantiomerically pure cis-1,2-dihydrocatechol 3 which is itself readily available on a large scale through the whole-cell biotransformation of bromobenzene. The methodology has been used in developing the first synthesis of compound 2, a derivative of lycorine.