Mills’s rule

In 1966 (Vol. XI, p. 352) over thirty alkaloids possessing the 5,10b-ethanophenanthridine nucleus were reported. The absolute configuration relied, first, on the interconversions of those alkaloids which permitted correlation with tazettine (240) whose absolute stereochemistry seemed firmly established through degradation to (+ )-(i )-2-methoxyadipic acid and, second, on empirical reasonings based on the application of Mill s rule. 

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