Application of ring-rearrangement metathesis in organic synthesis: A grand design

Molecular Acrobatics in Polycyclic Frames: Synthesis of "Kurmanediol" via Post-synthetic Modification of Cage Molecules by Olefinic Metathesis

We report late-stage ring-opening metathesis (ROM), ring-rearrangement metathesis (RRM), and ring-closing metathesis (RCM) approaches to generate expanded pentacycloundecane (PCUD) cage derivatives. These higher-order intricate polycyclic cage systems are aesthetically pleasing and structurally intriguing. Their assembly maintains molecular symmetry during the entire synthetic sequence. To this end, metathesis-based catalysts are used to execute the ROM, RRM, and RCM strategies. The synthetic approach to these cage polycycles involves the Diels-Alder reaction, [2 + 2] photocycloaddition, RRM, ROM, and RCM as key steps.

Ten-Step Total Synthesis of (-)-Andranginine

The total synthesis of the indole alkaloid (-)-andranginine has been achieved in 10 steps. Key reactions of the synthesis include a nucleophilic addition of acetylenyl anion to chiral N-sulfinyl imine, an intramolecular N-alkylation reaction to close the C ring, and a dienyne metathesis cascade reaction to construct the DE rings. Meanwhile, 16-epi-(-)-andranginine was also obtained with the developed strategy.

A Modular Approach to Angularly Fused Polyquinanes via Ring-Rearrangement Metathesis: Synthetic Access to Cameroonanol Analogues and the Basic Core of Subergorgic Acid and Crinipellin

We describe a modular approach to angularly fused polyquinanes that are core units of many natural products such as cameroonanol, subergorgic acid, and crinepellin, etc. in excellent yields by employing atom-economic ring-rearrangement metathesis as a key step. Our work highlights, the synthesis of cameroonanol analogues 1-6 and their ester derivatives by using the stereoselective reduction of the carbonyl group by using DIBAL-H- and DCC-mediated coupling as the key reactions. The subergorgic acid core 7 was produced by LDA-mediated kinetically controlled regio- and stereoselective ring-junction allylation as a critical step. Moreover, it is worth mentioning that the present strategy relies on a less explored exo-dicyclopentadiene-1-one (8) and produces highly congested polycyclic frameworks containing up to seven contiguous stereogenic centers including quaternary carbons up to two. All of the new molecules were characterized by NMR data. The structure and relative stereochemistry of some compounds were confirmed by chemical methods and further supported by single-crystal X-ray diffraction studies. The newly reported tri- and tetraquinane skeletons are present in many naturally occurring bioactive polyquinanes. Hence, this strategy is useful for designing various "druglike molecules" and expands the chemical space of cyclopentanoids that are useful in medicinal chemistry.