Enantioselective total syntheses of aloperine (
1),
N-methylaloperine (
2), and
N-allylaloperine (
3)are reported. The central element of the synthetic strategy is an intramolecular Diels-Alder reaction in whichthe cycloaddends are tethered by a
N-silylamine linkage. The total synthesis of
1 proceeds from commerciallyavailable 3-hydroxypiperidine hydrochloride (
54) and (
R)-pipecolinic acid (
35) by way of nine isolated andpurified intermediates. The synthesis is sufficiently efficient that gram quantities of (+)-aloperine (
1) can bereadily prepared. Early exploratory studies also introduced a convenient method for tethering cycloadditionpartners with a sulfonamide unit to realize the intramolecular Diels-Alder cycloaddition of a vinylsulfonamide:
45
46.