Tropinone is an alkaloid, famously synthesised in 1917 by Robert Robinson as a synthetic precursor to atropine, a scarce commodity during World War I.
It started from the seemingly related cycloheptanone, but required many steps to introduce the nitrogen bridge; the overall yield for the synthesis path is only 0.75%.
Tropinone is a bicyclic molecule, but the reactants used in its preparation are fairly simple: succinaldehyde, methylamine and acetonedicarboxylic acid (or even acetone).
IBX dehydrogenation (oxidation) of cycloheptanone (suberone) to 2,6-cycloheptadienone [1192-93-4] followed by reaction with an amine is versatile a way of forming tropinones.
[14] The reduction of tropinone is mediated by NADPH-dependent reductase enzymes, which have been characterized in multiple plant species.