Over the next 12 weeks I will be working on a model system for the Lewis Acid catalysed Pictet-Spengler formation of substitued tetrahydroisoquinolines (e.g. 4).

After making the starting materials (3, R1 = H, OMe and R2 = H, NO2, OMe) I'll work on screening various Lewis Acids with a focus on silver(I) triflate, given recent results - see AgOTf post here.