Synthesis of Polyketide Stereoarrays Enabled by a Traceless Oxonia-Cope Rearrangement

A Highly Convergent Total Synthesis of Norhalichondrin B

A new synthetic strategy for the total synthesis of norhalichondrin B featuring a highly convergent approach and our recently disclosed reverse approach for the synthesis of cyclic ether structural motifs is disclosed. Resulting in the shortest route to norhalichondrin B disclosed thus far, the reported total synthesis was achieved through the synthesis of two almost equally complex fragments whose coupling and short elaboration sequence featured an essential epimerization of the C16 stereocenter occurring concurrently with a simple acid-induced deprotection, a tactic based on a prior study along the synthetic route. This unprecedented strategy within the halichondrin family of natural products could find practical application to the synthesis of other more or less complex natural or designed halichondrin analogues.

A Reverse Approach to the Total Synthesis of Halichondrin B

A new strategy is described for the total synthesis of halichondrin B featuring reversal of the sequential construction of a number of its cyclic ethers from the classical approach by instead forming C-O bonds first followed by C-C bond formation. Employing the Nicholas reaction to generate linear ethers as precursors for the total synthesis of halichondrin B and other members of the halichondrin and eribulin families of compounds, this novel approach provides new opportunities for the development of improved syntheses of these complex and valuable compounds. In this Article, we report the syntheses of defined fragments I, MN, EFG, and A. Fragments I and MN were then coupled and elaborated to advanced intermediate IJKLMN, which was joined with fragment EFG to afford, after appropriate elaboration and macrolactonization, the more advanced polycyclic intermediate EFGHIJKLMN. Elaboration of the latter and coupling with fragment A followed by further functionalization completed the total synthesis of halichondrin B through a short and convergent pathway.

Synthetic efforts on the road to marine natural products bearing 4-O-2,3,4,6-tetrasubstituted THPs: an update

Scientific literature is inundated with secondary metabolites from marine sources. In this ocean of natural products, the presence of recurring patterns has traditionally led scientists to unravel the biosynthetic mechanisms that naturally yield these products, as well as to imitate Nature to prepare them in the laboratory, especially when promising bioactivities and stimulating molecular architectures are involucrate. For instance, natural products containing multisubstituted oxygenated rings and macrocyclic lactones are recurrently selected as targets for developing total syntheses. Thus, in the last decades a noteworthy number of synthetic works regarding miyakolide, madeirolide A and representative compounds of polycavernosides, lasonolides and clavosolides have come to fruition. Up to now, these families of macrolides are the only marine natural products bearing a tetrasubstituted tetrahydropyran ring with carbon substituents at positions 2, 3 and 6, as well as an oxygen at position 4. Their splendid structures have received the attention of the synthetic community, up to the point of starring in dozens of articles, and even some reviews. This work covers all the synthetic studies towards miyakolide and madeirolide A, as well as the synthetic efforts performed after the previous specialised reviews about lasonolide A, polycavernoside A and clavosolides, published in 2006, 2007 and 2016, respectively. In total, this review summarises 22 articles in which these marine natural products with 4-O-2,3,4,6-tetrasubstituted tetrahydropyrans have the leading role.

Inspirations from tetrafibricin and related polyketides: new methods and strategies for 1,5-polyol synthesis

Covering: up to 2019 Selective synthesis with control of remote stereogenic centers has long been a challenge in organic chemistry. In recent years the interest in this topic has been energized by isolation and synthetic studies of tetrafibricin and other natural products containing 1,5-polyols, such as amphidinol 3, marinomycins, and caylobolide. Here we discuss recent developments in 1,5-polyol synthesis, including an overview of selected bioactive natural products in this class and examples of new synthetic methodologies and strategies dedicated to remote stereocontrol in these structures. To illustrate in greater depth, we review several instructive examples of how these innovations have been applied in synthetic studies on tetrafibricin.

Unified Strategy for 1,5,9- and 1,5,7-Triols via Configuration-Encoded 1,5-Polyol Synthesis: Enantioselective Preparation of γ-Sulfonyl-α-silyloxyaldehydes and Iterative Julia-Kocienski Coupling

Diverse classes of natural products contain chiral 1,5-polyols, within which may be stereochemical triads of 1,5,9- and 1,5,7-triols. Biological activities associated with compounds containing these motifs warrant targeted synthetic strategies to access all stereoisomers of a 1,5-polyol family from cheap and easily accessible reagents while avoiding the need to determine configurations at each alcohol stereocenter. Here, we address these problems via design and implementation of an iterative configuration-encoded strategy to access 1,5-polyols with unambiguous stereocontrol; the coupling event exploits Julia-Kocienski reactions of enantiopure α-silyloxy-γ-sulfononitriles. These building blocks, bearing sulfone at one terminus and α-silyloxyaldehyde (in latent form) at the other, were prepared via asymmetric catalysis. An efficient scalable route to these building blocks was developed, leading to enantiopure samples in multigram quantities. Preliminary studies of acetals as the latent aldehyde functionality in the α-silyloxyaldehyde showed that Julia-Kocienski coupling of these building blocks was effective, but iterative application was thwarted during acetal hydrolysis, leading to use of nitrile to perform the latent aldehyde function. A variety of 1,5-polyols, including a 1,5,9,13-tetraol and a differentially protected 1,5,9-triol, were prepared, validating the approach. The accompanying paper describes the application of this configuration-encoded 1,5-polyol synthesis to 1,5,9- and 1,5,7-triols found in tetrafibricin.

A Novel Allyl Transfer Coupled with a Grob Fragmentation

A novel acid-promoted rearrangement is disclosed. In the previously unknown transformation, an allyl group migrated to an in situ formed carbocation stabilized by an electron-rich aryl or heteroaryl group, resulting in a stereoselective intramolecular Grob fragmentation. The outcome of the rearrangement observed with an array of substrates can be satisfactorily rationalized using a working hypothesis with the aid of a six-membered transition state similar to those proposed for the anionic oxy-Cope or oxonia-Cope rearrangements, but involving only one instead of two double bonds.