Phenethyl bromide → (3aS-cis)-1,2,3,3a,8,8a-hexahydro-5-methoxy-1-(2-phenylethyl)-3a,8-dimethylpyrrolo[2,3-b]indole

Participants

Reaction Steps

A stirred mixture, under nitrogen, of 8.73 g of 1,2,3,3a,8,8a-hexahydro-5-methoxy-3a,8-dimethylpyrrolo[2,3-b]indole, 9,25 g of 2-(bromoethyl)benzene and 8.29 g of milled, anhydrous potassium carbonate in 75 ml of degassed, dry dimethylformamide is heated at 70°-75° for 8 hours and thereafter stirred at room temperature overnight. The reaction mixture is decanted into 1.5 liters of water and the product is extracted into ethyl acetate (2×250 ml). The combined organic extracts are washed twice with saturated aqueous sodium chloride solution, dried over anhydrous sodium sulfate and then concentrated. The residue is subjected to flash chromatography over silica gel using methanol/ethyl acetate mixtures as eluent. The fractions containing the product are combined and concentrated to afford pure (3aS-cis)-1,2,3,3a,8,8a-hexahydro-5-methoxy-1-(2-phenylethyl)-3a,8-dimethylpyrrolo[2,3-b]indole.

Provenance & Evidence