A 15 mL round bottom flask was charged with (+)-(4aR)-(10bR)-4-methyl-8-bromo-10b-methyl-1,2,3,4,4a,5,6,10b-octahydrobenzo[f]quinolin-3-one (200 mg, 0.65 mmol), tetrakis(triphenylphosphine) palladium (0) (23 mg, 0.02 mmol), 4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenylboronic acid (131 mg, 0.78 mmol), 0.65 mL of 2M sodium carbonate solution and 2 mL of THF, fitted with a reflux condenser, and the stirred mixture was heated at 80°, under nitrogen, for 24 h. The mixture was cooled, diluted with chloroform (75 mL) and washed with brine (2×25 mL). The combined organic extracts were dried over sodium sulfate, concentrated, and purified by silica gel chromatography (ethyl acetate eluent), to give 91 mg (40%) of the title compound as a white solid. mp 247°-250°. FDMS: m/e=351. α[D]589 =+79.51 (c=0.75, chloroform).
