Total syntheses of the representative phenanthroizidine alkaloids,tylophorine and antofine, and of theirseco congeners, septicine and julandine, have been completed fromsterically congested 3,4-diarylpyridines preparedby a modified Knoevenagel-Stobbe synthesis. Central to thesuccess of this effort was the ability of
-dicarbonylenones to combine in a formal [4 + 2]-cycloaddition with stericallydemanding vinyl ethers.