A concise and convergent (formal) total synthesis of huperzine A

The first convergent synthesis of the tricyclic skeleton of huperzine A is described and includes, as the key step, an efficient regioselective intramolecular Heck reaction of 2-(tert-butyldimethylsilyloxymethyl)-6-(2-methoxy-5-bromopyridin-6-yl)methylcyclohex-2-enol.