An efficient formal synthesis of (S)-dapoxetine from enantiopure 3-hydroxy azetidin-2-one

An efficient formal synthesis of S-(+) dapoxetine starting from 3-hydroxy azetidin-2-one is described. The intermediate (S)-3-(dimethyl amino)-3-phenylpropan-1-ol was synthesized in enantiopure form starting with 3-hydroxy azetidin-2-one in seven steps.