1,2-Cyclic sulfamidates undergo efficient and regiospecific nucleophilic cleavage with 2-bromophenols (and related anilines and thiophenols), followed by Pd(0)-mediated amination to provide an entry to substituted and enantiomerically pure 1,4-benzoxazines (and quinoxalines and 1,4-benzothiazines). This chemistry provides a short and efficient entry to (3S)-3-methyl-1,4-benzoxazine 19, a late stage intermediate in the synthesis of levofloxacin.

A full account of studies which led to the efficient asymmetric synthesis of (-)-aphanorphine is reported. Two routes to the key cyclic sulfamidate intermediate are described, the first was based on a chiral auxiliary approach and the second utilised asymmetric hydrogenation methodology. A range of C(3)-substituted lactams (, and ) were synthesised and evaluated as precursors for Pd(0) catalysed entries (based on (i) alpha-arylation of a lactam enolate and (ii) reductive Heck reaction) to the 3-benzazepine core of . These approaches were less effective than an aryl radical cyclisation which allowed the completion of a synthesis of in 12 steps from anisaldehyde.

[reaction: see text] A structurally diverse series of mono- and disubstituted 1,2- and 1,3-cyclic sulfamidates react with stabilized enolates, including malonate and phosphonoacetate variants, to provide, after lactamization, substituted and alpha-functionalized pyrrolidinone and piperidinone derivatives.