Synthesis of spirocyclic pyrrolidines: advanced building blocks for drug discovery

In the context of drug discovery, novel spirocyclic pyrrolidines have been synthesized in two steps from common three- to seven-membered-ring (hetero)alicyclic ketones. The key transformation is a reaction between an electron-deficient exocyclic alkene and an in situ generated N-benzyl azomethine ylide. The developed method has been used to synthesize the central diamine core of the known antibacterial agents Sitafloxacin and Olamufloxacin.