Total Synthesis of (−)-Epibatidine Using an Asymmetric Diels−Alder Reaction with a Chiral N-Acylnitroso Dienophile

An asymmetric total synthesis of (−)-epibatidine (1), isolated from the skin of the Ecuadorian poison frog, Epipedobates tricolor, of the family Dendrobatidae, has been achieved by virtue of the development of asymmetric hetero Diels−Alder (D−A) cycloaddition with an N-acylnitroso dienophile bearing the optically active 8-arylmenthol as a chiral source. Thus, in situ oxidation of the hydroxamic acid ent-12f incorporating the (1S,2R,5S)-8-(2-naphthyl)menthyl auxiliary was performed using the Swern conditions to produce the acylnitroso dienophile, which reacted at once with 2-chloro-5-(1,5-cyclohexadienyl)pyridine (7) to provide the (1S,4R)-meta-aza cycloadduct 24 as a major diastereoisomer. The observed facial diastereoselectivity is consistent with a transition-state model with the naphthyl group in “stacked” position and with the acylnitroso group in the s-cis conformation, wherein π attractive interaction between the naphthyl and nitrosocarbonyl groups may contribute to facial control. Compound 24 under...