Total Synthesis of Enantioenriched Quinine

Abstract

For more than a century, quinine(1)has remained a persistent fascination to human beings for its use in medicine and chemistry. More recently, 1 has garnered increased attention due to its widespread application in the field of asymmetric catalysis. Although there is no doubt that the importance of 1, quinine and its derivatives are currently only available in economically viable quantities from the natural sources. From a synthetic standpoint, since Stork’s stereoselective total synthesis of quinine(1)has been reported in 2001- and due to rapid progress in contemporary synthetic chemistry-several asymmetric total syntheses of quinine have been reported to date. New synthetic routes to 1 remain desirable and important, highlighted in the fact that four asymmetric approaches to quinine have been reported since 2018. This review article details strategies for the asymmetric total synthesis of quinine from the last two decades.