Hydrazone Activation in the Aminocatalytic Cascade Reaction for the Synthesis of Tetrahydroindolizines.

In this Letter, we demonstrate the usefulness of hydrazone activation for the synthesis of biologically relevant tetrahydroindolizines. A pyrrol-derived hydrazone bearing a Michael acceptor moiety in the -alkyl side chain has been designed with the aim of participating in the aminocatalytic cascade reaction leading to the annulation of the new six-membered heterocyclic scaffold. The application of ()-(-)-α,α-diphenyl-2-pyrrolidinemethanol trimethylsilyl ether as the aminocatalyst allows for the iminium ion-enamine-mediated cascade to proceed in a fully stereoselective manner.