Synthesis of enantiomerically pure amino-substituted fused bicyclic rings

A process for synthesizing a racemic amino-substituted 5,6,7,8-tetrahydroquinoline or a racemic amino-substituted 5,6,7,8-tetrahydroisoquinoline comprising:

• a) reacting an amino-substituted quinoline of the formula I or an amino-substituted isoquinoline of the formula II with an amine-protecting group compound in an organic solvent to produce an amine-protected, substituted quinoline or isoquinoline:
• wherein the amine-protecting group is an acyl, carbamate, or sulfonamide;
• b) hydrogenating the amine-protected, substituted quinoline or isoquinoline in a strongly acidic solvent at an elevated temperature to form the 5,6,7,8-tetrahydroquinoline or 5,6,7,8-tetrahydroisoquinoline;
• and
• c) hydrolyzing the amine-protecting group to produce the desired racemic amino-substituted 5,6,7,8-tetrahydroquinoline or racemic amino-substituted 5,6,7,8-tetrahydroisoquinoline;
• wherein NH2 is located at any position on the benzene portion of the quinoline or isoquinoline, R1 is located at any other hydrogen position on the quinoline or isoquinoline ring;
• m is 0-4;
• and wherein R1 is selected from the group consisting of nitro, cyano, carboxylic acid, alkyl, alkoxy, cycloalkyl, a protected hydroxyl, a protected thiol, a protected amino, acyl, carboxylate, carboxamide, sulfonamide, an aromatic group and a heterocyclic group.