AN EXAMPLE OF REGIOSELECTIVE ESTERIFICATION BY INTRAMOLECULAR ACYL TRANSFER FROM A TERTIARY AMINE

Despite the fact that the famous antimalarial quinine (1) has been known for 170 years, there is still considerable interest in its chemical and biological properties. Much of the most recent attention is due to the utility of quinine as a chiral resolving agent and catalyst.1 In addition, however, malaria is still a worldwide problem, and quinine is the only antimalarial toward which resistance of theparasite Plasmodium falciparum has not yet been reported.2 Important and new chemistry of quinine may yet be discovered. © 1990, American Chemical Society. All rights reserved.