Enantioselective Total Synthesis of (+)-Garsubellin A

Garsubellin A is a meroterpene capable of enhancing the enzyme choline acetyltransferase whose decreased level is believed to play a central role in the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease. Due to the potentially useful biological activity together with the novel bridged and fused cyclic molecular architecture, garsubellin A has garnered substantial synthetic interest, but its absolute stereostructure has been undetermined. We report here the first enantioselective total synthesis of (+)-garsubellin A. Our synthesis relies on stereoselective fashioning of a cyclohexanone framework and double conjugate addition of 1,2-ethanedithiol that promotes aldol cyclization to build the bicyclic [3.3.1] skeleton. The twelve-step, protecting group-free synthetic route has enabled the syntheses of both the natural (-)-garsubellin A and its unnatural (+)-antipode for biological evaluations.

Rapid synthesis of bicyclic lactones via palladium-catalyzed aminocarbonylative lactonizations

A novel and efficient palladium-catalyzed aminocarbonylative lactonization of amino propargylic alcohols has been developed to provide rapid access to various bicyclic lactones especially dihydropyrrole-fused furanones, which are novel structures and have not been explored in biological and medicinal settings. This method can also be used to access β-lactone products such as 16. Preliminary biological evaluations revealed that compounds 13h and 13s demonstrated promising activity against Clostridium difficile and compounds 13h, 13k, 13s, and 16b showed activity against several important fungal pathogens.

Palladium-catalyzed oxidative carbonylation reactions

Palladium-catalyzed coupling reactions have become a powerful tool for advanced organic synthesis. This type of reaction is of significant value for the preparation of pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, as well as advanced materials. Both, academic as well as industrial laboratories continuously investigate new applications of the different methodologies. Clearly, this area constitutes one of the major topics in homogeneous catalysis and organic synthesis. Among the different palladium-catalyzed coupling reactions, several carbonylations have been developed and widely used in organic syntheses and are even applied in the pharmaceutical industry on ton-scale. Furthermore, methodologies such as the carbonylative Suzuki and Sonogashira reactions allow for the preparation of interesting building blocks, which can be easily refined further on. Although carbonylative coupling reactions of aryl halides have been well established, palladium-catalyzed oxidative carbonylation reactions are also interesting. Compared with the reactions of aryl halides, oxidative carbonylation reactions offer an interesting pathway. The oxidative addition step could be potentially avoided in oxidative reactions, but only few reviews exist in this area. In this Minireview, we summarize the recent development in the oxidative carbonylation reactions.

Cyclization-carbonylation-cyclization coupling reaction of propargyl ureas with palladium(II)-bisoxazoline catalyst

The cyclization-carbonylation-cyclization coupling reaction (CCC-coupling reaction) of propargyl ureas catalyzed by Pd(II)(box) complexes afforded symmetrical ketones bearing two 2-amino-2-oxazoline groups in good to moderate yields.

[Natural products syntheses based on the biotransformation using biocatalyst]

This review summarizes the chemoenzymatic synthesis of the biologically active natural products based on a combination of chemical diastereoselectivity and enzymatic enantioselectivity using biocatalyst. Asymmetric reduction of 2-methyl-3-keto ester with yeast gave the optically active syn-2-methyl-3-hydroxy ester, which was converted to natural product such as (-)-oudemansin B. Asymmetric hydrolysis of 3-acetoxy-2-methy esters possessing syn- or anti-structure afforded the optically active 3-hydroxy-2-methyl esters and 3-acetoxy-2-methy esters corresponding to the starting material. One of these optically active 3-hydroxy-2-methyl esters was converted to aglycone of macrolide, venturicidins A and B possessing 10 chiral centers. Both primary alcohols possessing a chiral center at β-position of hydroxyl group and secondary alcohols were subjected to the lipase-assisted acylation in the presence of acyl donor to afford the optically active esters and the optically active alcohols corresponding to the starting material. These optically active compounds were converted to the biologically active natural products such as bisabolane type sesquiterpenes, decaline type diterpenes or triterpenes, nikkomycin B, (+)-asperlin, (-)-chuangxinmycin, (-)-indolmycin, cystothiazoles melithiazols, myxothiazols and piericidins possessing antifungal and cytotoxicic activities, inhibition of NADH oxidation, etc. Reaction of primary alcohol and glucose using immobilized β-glucosidase gave alkyl β-glucosides in high yield. Pentaacetate of allyl β-glucoside was subjected to Mizoroki-Heck type reaction with phenylboronic acid derivatives to give phenylpropenoid β-D-glucopyranosid congeners.

Synthesis of β-methoxyacrylate natural products based on box-Pd(II)-catalyzed intermolecular methoxycarbonylation of alkynoles

Bis(oxazoline)-palladium(II) catalyzed carbonylation of homopropargyl alcohols afforded acyclic methoxyacrylate 2 and 6-membered lactone 3a-k in good combined yield. In the case of propargyl alcohols, 5-membered lactones 3p, 3q, 16 were obtained in moderate yields. The one-pot synthesis of kawa lactones 3a, 3r, 3s and formal synthesis of dihydroxycystothiazole A and dihydroxycystothiazole C are presented. To elucidate the stereochemistry of (+)-annularin G and (-)-annularin H, the first asymmetric syntheses of these natural products were achieved.