Use of nitrogen and oxygen dipole ylides for alkaloid synthesis

As highlighted in this mini review, a growing area of interest in organic synthesis involves the use of substituted azomethine and carbonyl ylides as 1,3-dipoles for the preparation of alkaloidal natural products. Cascade reactions proceeding by an intramolecular 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition of nitrogen and oxygen dipole ylides are of particular interest to the synthetic organic community because of the increase in molecular complexity involved and the high isolated yields.