Asymmetric synthesis of (−)- and (+)-kainic acid using a planar chiral amide as a chiral building block

Both enantiomers of kainic acid have been synthesized from enantioenriched planar chiral cyclic amide 2a. The C3 and C4 stereocenters in the pyrrolidine ring were constructed by transannular Cope rearrangement of 2a, and the carboxyl group at the C2 position was introduced through lithiation followed by a carboxylation in the presence of an external chiral ligand.