A Novel Class of 7‐Membered Heterocyclic Compounds

The work presented herein describes the synthesis of a formerly inaccessible class of heterocyclic compounds. The reaction relies on α‐phthalimido‐amides, which are readily prepared from amino acids in 2 simple reactions steps. Under amide activation conditions in which classical keteniminium ions are not formed, the nitrile solvent is incorporated into the new fused 7‐membered ring system. Due to the absence of a keteniminium intermediate, the stereogenic information in the α‐position is fully retained.