Synthesis of (R)-3-Methylpyrrolidine Alkaloids Using (S)-Malic Acid as a Chiral Pool

Previous work in our laboratory was around the development of chiral 2-pyrrolidinone synthon A. Malimides 1 and 2, which can be easily prepared from (S)-malic acid, have been shown to be versatile chiral synthetic intermediates. All the reactivities showed in synthon A have been exploited.