A formal synthesis of (−)-swainsonine from a chiral aziridine

Abstract A formal synthesis of enantiomerically pure (−)-swainsonine was successfully achieved using intramolecular cyclization of the amino alcohol 4 which was derived from a readily available 1-( R )-α-methylbenzylaziridine-2-carboxylic acid (−)-menthol ester 6 .