Organocatalyst-mediated five-pot synthesis of (-)-quinine.

In this work, the enantioselective total synthesis of (-)-quinine has been accomplished in a pot-economical manner using five reaction vessels. In the first pot, reactions involve the diphenylprolinol silyl ether-mediated Michael reaction, aza-Henry reaction, hemiaminalization, and elimination of HNO (five reactions), affording a chiral tetrahydropyridine with excellent enantioselectivity. In the second pot, five reactions proceed with excellent diastereoselectivity to afford a trisubstituted piperidine with the desired stereochemistry. A further five reactions are carried out in the last one-pot sequence.