Formal synthesis of (±)-perhydrohistrionicotoxin

Thirty-five years of synthetic studies directed towards the histrionicotoxin family of alkaloids

This article brings together for the first time reviews of all the synthetic attempts towards the spirocyclic histrionicotoxin alkaloids published since the discovery of the group in 1971. This covers 5 total syntheses of the fully unsaturated parent alkaloid HTX-283A, 7 total syntheses of perhydrohistrionicotoxin, 15 total syntheses of other members of this alkaloid family, 25 formal syntheses, and 19 partial syntheses involving the successful formation of the core azaspirocyclic structure but lacking advancement towards the target structure.

Ultrasound in natural products synthesis: applications to the synthesis of histrionicotoxin via nitroalkanal acetals

Ultrasound promoted the Kornblum reaction of silver nitrite or sodium nitrite with haloalkyl acetals to afford the corresponding C-nitro compounds. The acetalprotected nitro compounds were used as reactants in a 'double Henry' reaction to produce the key intermediate nitrocyclohexane diol with a masked aldehyde side chain. The nitrodiol was then subjected to an ultrasound-promoted one-pot/single operation sequence involving a reduction deprotection followed by a cyclization-reduction. The entire sequence provided the core spiropiperidine substructure of the histrionicotoxins.