Horner-Emmons-Wadsworth reaction with 1,3-dimethyl-4-piperidone in wat
er afforded an exocyclic enone, with minimal deconjugation of the doub
le bond. Copper catalyzed conjugate addition with an aryl Grignard rea
gent then afforded an adduct with high stereo control. Wolff-Kisch ner
reduction and deprotection proceeded to provide picenadol (1) in exce
llent overall yield. Access to oxygenated analogues of picenadol was a
lso accomplished with this approach.