Abstract
Didehydromatrine (III) was reduced to (±)-allomatrinol (VI') and (±)-matrinol (VII'), and the latter of which was converted to N-benzoyl derivative (VIII'). The optical resolution of VI' and VIII' were carried out by means of dibenzoyl-(+)-tartaric acid. N-Benzoyl-(+)-matrinol (VIII) was transformed to (+)-matrinol (VII) via hydrogenolysis. (+)-Matrinol (VII) and (+)-allomatrinol (VI) were derived into (+)-matrine (I) and (+)-allomatrine (V) by oxidation and successive cyclization.
