The tropane alkaloid (+)-ferruginine was isolated from the extracts of two arboreal species Darlingia Darlingiana and Darlingia Ferruginea (photo). It is a potent neurotoxin of potential interest for the treatment of neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's disease. A facile synthesis of the naturally occuring (+)-ferrugine and of its enantiomer starting from commercially available achiral tropinone is reported.

This work was carried out in the group of Prof. Philippe Renaud.

References:

• R. Piccardi, P. Renaud;
  "Formal Synthesis of (+)- and (–)-Ferruginine"
  Eur. J. Org. Chem., 4752, (2007); doi:10.1002/ejoc.200700427.