()-(S)-Nakinadine B: first asymmetric synthesisElectronic supplementary information (ESI) available: Experimental procedures, characterisation data, copies of 1H and 13C NMR spectra, and crystallographic data (CCDC 890293). For ESI and crystallographic data in CIF or other electronic format see DOI: 10.1039/c2cc34808j

()-( S )-Nakinadine B has been synthesized for the first time (in 9 steps and 17% overall yield from commercially available atropic acid) using the conjugate addition of lithium dibenzyl-amide to an N --phenylacryloyl SuperQuat derivative with in situ diastereoselective enolate protonation as the key step. The -amino acid natural product ()-( S )-nakinadine B was synthesized in 9 steps and 17% overall yield from commercially available atropic acid.