Enantioselective Allyltitanations and Metathesis Reactions. Application to the Synthesis of Piperidine Alkaloids (+)-Sedamine and (−)-Prosophylline

An enantioselective synthesis of the piperidine alkaloids (+)-sedamine and (-)-prosophylline is reported. The synthesis of (+)-sedamine has been achieved in 12 steps with an overall yield of 20% from benzaldehyde, and (-)-prosophylline was obtained in 15 steps with an overall yield of 9.2%, starting from D-glyceraldehyde acetonide 14. The key steps are enantioselective allyltitanation reactions and ring-closing or cross-metathesis reactions.