In the presence or a catalytic amount of samarium diiodide in methylene chl
oride, aromatic imines react with Danishefsky diene to form tetrahydropyrid
ine-4-ones in high yields. Under the same conditions, various imino-aldol r
eactions afford beta -amino esters or beta -amino ketones. (C) 2001 Elsevie
r Science Ltd. All rights reserved.