Six-membered nitrogen heterocycles comprise the backbone of many biologically and structurally interesting alkaloids. 1, 2 The 3-hydroxy-2 (1H)-pyridone (4) ring system is a valuable building block in natural product synthesis, 3 as it can act as a common intermediate for the preparation of a wide variety of piperidine, pyridine, quinolizidine, and indolizidine alkaloids. 2, 4 Only a few methods of preparing 3-hydroxy-2 (1H)-pyridones ...
