Syntheses of tetrahydropyridin-3-ol and tetrahydroazepin-3-ol from a chiral aziridine-2-carboxylate

A method for the stereoselective preparation of 1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridin-3-ols and 2,3,4,7-tetrahydro-1H-azepin-3-ols, potentially versatile intermediates in the asymmetric synthesis of various piperidine alkaloids and azasugars, has been developed. The routes start with a readily available optically pure aziridine-2-carboxylate. The design strategy relies on four key transformations involving (1) stereoselective reduction of an acyl-aziridine intermediate derived from the aziridine-2-carboxylate, (2) regioselective aziridine ring opening, (3) N-allylation, and (4) ring-closing metathesis. The method developed in this investigation provides ready access to stereochemically defined and highly functionalized 3-hydroxy-substituted tetrahydropyridines and tetrahydroazepines.