Short Formal Syntheses of Lycorine and Congeners Using a 5 -Endo-Trig /6 -Endo-Trig Radical Cyclization Sequence.

Here, we report a practical route to medicinally interesting lycorine congeners alongside formal syntheses of various lycorine-type natural products, including lycorine itself. The efficiency of our strategy derives from a back-to-back 5 -endo-trig /6 -endo-trig radical cyclization sequence, which we systematically studied both experimentally and computationally. The results of our work will facilitate future development of urgently needed antiviral therapeutics based on lycorine.