Abstract
Complex polycyclic natural products present daunting challenges to the synthetic organic chemist and thus drive innovation. We have been inspired by the challenges presented by chiral indole alkaloid and bridged polycyclic natural products. We present new experimental results for enantioselective conjugate additions to generate alpha-chiral heterocycles and carbene cascade reactions to generate functionalized bridged bicycles. We also show the application of these methods to the total synthesis of these natural products.