Diastereoselective alkylation of N-acylnorbornene sultams 2 afforded a variety of enantiomerically pure products 3a-3e. Reduction with LiAlH4 (LAH) followed by ditosylation furnished chiral 1,4-ditosylates 5a-5e which underwent a cyclization reaction with primary amines to afford chiral 1,3- and 1,3;4-substituted pyrrolidines. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.