Highly enantioselective rhodium-catalyzed asymmetric hydrogenation (> 98% ee) and Sharpless epoxidation (> 90% ee) of o-nitrocinnamyl substrates lead to intermediates that can be transformed into tetrahydroquinoline derivatives. Starting materials are produced in high-yielding Heck reactions of an o-nitroaryl iodide and α-acetamidoacrylate or methyl acrylate.
