Acid-catalyzed cyclization of vinylsilanes bearing an amino group. Stereoselective synthesis of pyrrolidines

[reaction: see text] In the presence of an acid catalyst, vinylsilanes 1 bearing an amino group protected by an electron-withdrawing group were smoothly cyclized to 2-(silylmethyl)pyrrolidines 2. This cyclization was utilized for the stereoselective synthesis of 2,n-disubstituted pyrrolidines (n = 3-5). The cyclized products could be converted to the corresponding alcohols by oxidative cleavage of the carbon-silicon bond with TBAF and H2O2.