Enantiospecific synthesis of 2,5-disubstituted piperidine derivatives: Synthesis of (+)-pseudoconhydrine

A novel methodology for the synthesis of any one of the four stereoisomers of a 2,5-disubstituted piperidine in optically pure form is described, starting from readily available chiral building blocks 10 and 11 (or their antipodes). The utility of this approach is demonstrated in the total synthesis of (+)-pseudoconhydrine hydrochloride, the structure of which was confirmed by X-ray analysis.