Samarium (II)-mediated reductive cyclizations are standard tools in organic chemistry and have found broad application in the synthesis of natural products and drugs.[1] Of these reactions, the reductive cyclization of w-ketonitriles [2] is of particular interest because the resulting a-hydroxyketone (acyloin) fragment is present in over 1500 known natural products. Examples include barbacenic acid, cortistatinD, dragmacidin F, sieboldine A, ...
