A divergent approach to the synthesis of the yohimbinoid alkaloids venenatine and alstovenine

[Image: see text] The yohimbinoid alkaloids have received considerable attention from the synthetic community due to their interesting chemical structures and varied biological activity. Although there have been several elegant syntheses of certain members of this group of alkaloids, a truly unified approach has yet to be developed. In short, general approaches to this compound class have been hampered by a lack of complete control in setting the C(3) stereocenter at a late stage. Herein, we report that a functionalized hydrindanone enables a divergent strategy that builds on precedent from Stork, which addresses this long standing challenge. Utilizing an aminonitrile intermediate, the stereochemistry at C(3) of the yohimbinoid skeleton can be effectively controlled in a Pictet-Spengler reaction. This approach has been applied to the first total syntheses of the C(3) epimeric natural products venenatine and alstovenine.