Abstract
The lithium enolates of ethyl butyrate (7) and ethyl isovalerate (19) react with N-p-methoxyphenylcinnamaldimine (8) in tetrahydrofuran (THF)-hexamethylphosphoric triamide (HMPA) to afford predominantly trans .beta.-lactams 9 (67%) and 20 (78%), respectively. .beta.-Lactam 9 was converted to PS-5(5) intermediate 18 in 21% overall yield (8 steps). .beta.-Lactam 20 was converted to PS-6(6) analog 28 in 22% overall yield using an eight step sequence.

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