Total Syntheses of ()-Minovincine and ()-Aspidofractinine Using a Sequence of Cascade Reactions

A lecture on the Total Synthesis Of (–)-Minovincine and (–)-Aspidofractinine as reported by the Soós group. It features some really creative cascade reactions, aldol chemistry, indole synthesis, organocatalysis and (almost) no protecting groups. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2020, 59, 13547–13551 (This work) Chem. Eur. J. 2016, 22, 18101–18106. (Chiral Catalyst) Socials: Twitter: @SimplifyingSyn1 0:00 Introduction 1:17 Retrosynthesis 1:53 Tandem Michael Addition/Robinson Annulation 2:17 Micheal Addition 3:57 Nucleophilic Cascade 6:03 Fischer Indole Synthesis 7:28 Acylation 8:06 Protection of C-3 Ester 9:55 Ester-Ketone FGI/ Decarboxylation 10:08 Fischer Indolization-Mannich Cascade 11:08 Wolff-Kishner Reduction