7 0 a, R= H bR= Me amines 8a and 8b upon treatment with NaBH4 or MeLi, respectively.(MeMgBr cleaved the MOM protecting groups. l0) However attempts to cyclize 8 produced less than 10% yields of tetrahydroisoquinolines 13. Suspecting that the formaldehyde formed in hydrolysis of the methoxymethyl protecting groups had reacted with the aromatic ring to produce undesired side products? we turned again to benzyl ...