Our strategy was to first form an enantioenriched octahydroisoquinoline* and then employ an intramolecular Heck reaction to forge the critical quaternary center of the morphinan skeleton. 93'0 The synthesis of the (R)-allylsilane amine 9, the precursor of natural morphine, is summarized in Scheme I. Enantioselective reductionll of 2-allylcyclohex-2-en-1- one (5) 12 with catecholborane in the presence of the (R)-oxazaborolidine catalyst 613