Synthesis of strychnine

Strychnine (C21H22N2O2) is a notorious poison that blocks post-synaptic inhibition in the spinal cord where it antagonizes the transmitter glycine. This property has made strychnine very useful as a tool in experimental pharmacology. A review is given on the synthetic approaches to strychnine developed over the past decade. Among these, three enantiospecific syntheses of (-) - strychnine are described, starting from an enantiomerically pure compound, either prepared by an enzymatic desymmetrization or derived from the chiral pool. New strychnine syntheses reflect the power of modern synthetic methods and demonstrate the usefulness of new procedures in assembling carbocyclic and nitrogen-containing rings.