Efficient and practical synthesis of (R)-2-methylpyrrolidine

ORGN 802

Dalian Zhao, dalian_zhao@merck.com, Jeffrey T. Kuethe, Michel Journet, Zhihui Peng, and Guy R. Humphrey. Department of Process Research, Merck Research Laboratories, P.O. Box 2000, Rahway, NJ 07065
An efficient, practical, and high yielding synthesis of (R)-2-methylpyrrolidine is described. The sequence allows for the scalable preparation of the target compound in just four synthetic steps and proceeds in 83% overall yield and > 99 % optical purity from readily available starting materials.