A short and efficient approach to aza-quaternary pyrrolo [1, 2-a] azepine 8 and aza- quaternary indolizine 23, as the crucial intermediates for syntheses of stemonamine (1a) and cephalotaxine (1b), has been developed on the basis of the key intramolecular Schmidt reaction of symmetric azido-diones 5 and 18, respectively.
