Abstract A three-step synthesis of a mixture of optically active cis-and trans-clavicipitic acids 6, which are ergot alkaloids, was achieved, starting from 4-bromoindole (7) and dl-serine (dl- 2). This short synthesis was made possible by omitting the protection and deprotection steps from the synthetic route. The key step was the spontaneous cyclization of 4-vinyltryptophan (10) formed from the Heck reaction of 4-bromotryptophan (8) with 2-methyl-3-buten-2-ol (9 ...
