Professor Daniel Griffith of Lafayette College

"Tropone as a platform for complex azapolycycle synthesis"

Tricarbonyl(tropone)iron is a simple but versatile starting material for the construction of complex molecules. We report novel uses of this starting material for the efficient synthesis of nitrogen heterocycles common to a number of alkaloid and alkaloid-like structures. Addition of amine nucleophiles featuring functionalized side chains to tricarbonyl(tropone)iron fashions intermediates poised to undergo complexity-building intramolecular reactions following decomplexation from the iron.