Asymmetric synthesis of (-)-swainsonine.

We report a new asymmetric synthetic method for (-)-swainsonine utilizing a chiral oxazoline precursor. The key features in this strategy are the diastereoselective oxazoline formation reaction catalyzed by palladium(0), diasteroselective dihydroxylation, and the stereocontrolled allylation reaction with TiCl(4).