Aspidosperma Alkaloids. A New Didehydrodimerization Mode of β-Anilinoacrylic Alkaloids by Anodic Oxidation

A regio- and stereoselective didehydrodimerization procedure, whose key step involves the anodic oxidation, allows the conversion of β-anilinoacrylic alkaloids belonging to the Aspidosperma class, typified by tabersonine ( 1 ) and its 3-oxo derivative 2 , into the hitherto unknown 16,10′-didehydro dimers 3 and 7 , respectively.