Convergent Synthesis of Taxol Skeleton via Decarbonylative Radical Coupling Reaction

Total Synthesis of Taxol Enabled by Intermolecular Radical Coupling and Pd-Catalyzed Cyclization

Taxol (1) is a clinically used antineoplastic diterpenoid. The tetracyclic ring system comprises a 6/8/6-membered carbocycle (ABC-ring) and a fused oxetane ring (D-ring) embedded with a bridgehead double bond and decorated with multiple oxygen functionalities. Here, we report a convergent total synthesis of this exceedingly complex natural product. The C-ring fragment was designed to possess a bromocyclohexenone and an extra tetrahydrofuran ring to control the reactivity and selectivity, as well as to minimize functional group manipulations en route to 1. The α-alkoxyacyl telluride of the A-ring served as a radical precursor, and intermolecular radical coupling with the C-ring realized the installation of the C2- and C3-stereocenters and reductive removal of the bromide. After the C8-quaternary stereocenter was constructed by exploiting the three-dimensional shape of the intermediate, the C11-vinyl triflate of A-ring and the C8-methyl ketone of C-ring were utilized for Pd(0)-catalyzed cyclization of the central eight-membered B-ring with the bridgehead olefin. Adjustment of the oxidation level and attachment of the oxetane D-ring completed the total synthesis of 1 (28 steps, as the longest linear sequence). The fragment design principle and implementation of the powerful radical coupling reaction described in the present synthesis provide valuable information for planning and executing syntheses of diverse densely oxygenated terpenoids.

Growing Utilization of Radical Chemistry in the Synthesis of Pharmaceuticals

Our current unhealthy lifestyle and the exponential surge in the population getting affected by a variety of diseases have made pharmaceuticals or drugs an imperative part of life, making the development of innovative strategies for drug discovery or the introduction of refined, cost-effective and modern technologies for the synthesis of clinically used drugs, a need of the hour. Ever since their discovery, free radicals and radical cations or anions as reactive intermediates have captivated the chemists, resulting in an exceptional utilization of these moieties throughout the field of chemical synthesis, owing to their unprecedented and widespread reactivity. Sticking with the idea of not judging the book by its cover, despite the conventional thought process of radicals being unstable and difficult to control entities, scientists and academicians around the globe have done an appreciable amount of work utilizing both persistent as well as transient radicals for a variety of organic transformations, exemplifying them with the synthesis of significant biologically active pharmaceutical ingredients. This review truly accounts for the organic radical transformations including radical addition, radical cascade cyclization, radical/radical cross-coupling, coupling with metal-complexes and radical cations coupling with nucleophiles, that offers fascinating and unconventional approaches towards the construction of intricate structural frameworks of marketed APIs with high atom- and step-economy; complementing the otherwise employed traditional methods. This tutorial review presents a comprehensive package of diverse methods utilized for radical generation, featuring their reactivity to form critical bonds in pharmaceutical total synthesis or in building key starting materials or intermediates of their synthetic journey, acknowledging their excellence, downsides and underlying mechanisms, which are otherwise poorly highlighted in the literature. Despite great achievements over the past few decades in this area, many challenges and obstacles are yet to be unraveled to shorten the distance between the academics and the industry, which are all discussed in summary and outlook.

Asymmetric Total Synthesis of Four Stemona Alkaloids

Asymmetric total syntheses of four Stemona alkaloids were accomplished, and among them, bisdehydrostemoninine A and stemoninine A were synthesized for the first time. Notably, these four alkaloids were divergently synthesized from a common tetracyclic intermediate, which was easily obtained from a known compound. Friedel-Crafts acylation was employed to introduce the key side chain at position C3 of Stemona alkaloids.

Strategies and Lessons Learned from Total Synthesis of Taxol

Taxol (paclitaxel), the most well-known taxane diterpenoid, is the best-selling natural-source anticancer drug ever produced and one of the most common prescriptions in the treatment of breast, lung, and ovarian cancers, saving countless lives around the world. Structurally, Taxol possesses a highly oxygenated [6-8-6-4] core bearing 11 stereocenters, seven of which are contiguous chiral centers. Moreover, the extremely strained bicyclo[5.3.1] undecane ring system with a bridgehead double bond is a unique structural feature. All these features make Taxol a highly challenging synthetic target. Tremendous synthetic efforts from more than 60 research groups around the world have already culminated in ten total syntheses and three formal syntheses, as well as more than 60 synthetic model studies of Taxol. This review is intended to provide a long-overdue appraisal of the great achievements in the total syntheses of Taxol reported in the last few decades. In doing so, we summarize the development of synthesis toward Taxol from 1994 to 2022, including the evolution of synthetic strategy for accessing this complex molecular scaffold and key lessons learned from such endeavors. Finally, we briefly discuss the future of the research in this area.

Total Synthesis of Taxol Enabled by Inter- and Intramolecular Radical Coupling Reactions

Taxol is a clinically used drug for the treatment of various types of cancers. Its 6/8/6/4-membered ring (ABCD-ring) system is substituted by eight oxygen functional groups and flanked by four acyl groups, including a β-amino acid side chain. Here we report a 34-step total synthesis of this unusually oxygenated and intricately fused structure. Inter- and intramolecular radical coupling reactions connected the A- and C-ring fragments and cyclized the B-ring, respectively. Functional groups of the A- and C-rings were then efficiently decorated by employing newly developed chemo-, regio-, and stereoselective reactions. Finally, construction of the D-ring and conjugation with the β-amino acid delivered taxol. The powerful coupling reactions and functional group manipulations implemented in the present synthesis provide new valuable information for designing multistep target-oriented syntheses of diverse bioactive natural products.

Total Synthesis of Paclitaxel

The total synthesis of paclitaxel (Taxol) is described. Double Rubottom oxidation of the bis(silyl enol ether) derived from a tricarbocyclic diketone effectively installed a bridgehead olefin and C-5/C-13 hydroxy groups in a one-step operation. The novel Ag-promoted oxetane formation smoothly constructed the tetracyclic framework of paclitaxel.

Recent progress in the radical α-C(sp3)-H functionalization of ketones

The direct use structurally simple ketones as α-ketone radical sources for α-C(sp³)-H functionalization is a sustainable and powerful approach for constructing complex and multifunctional chemical scaffolds with diverse applications. The reactions of α-ketone radicals with alkenes, alkynes, enynes, imides, and imidazo[1,2-a]pyridines have broadened the structural diversity and complexity of ketones. Through chosen illustrative examples, we outline the recent progress in the development of methods that enable the radical α-C(sp³)-H functionalization of ketones, with an emphasis on radical initiation systems and possible mechanisms of the transformations. The application of these strategies is illustrated by the synthesis of several biologically active molecules and drug molecules. Further subdivision is based on substrate type and reaction type.

Convergent Assembly of Highly Oxygenated Natural Products Enabled by Intermolecular Radical Reactions

Natural products with a high ratio of sp³-hybridized atoms and oxygen-substituted stereogenic centers represent privileged structures for the development of pharmaceuticals and chemical probes. The multiple oxygen functionalities of these natural products endow their potent and selective biological activities, although they significantly heighten the challenge of their chemical assemblies. We focused on developing efficient strategies for the total syntheses of this biologically and chemically important class of molecules. A convergent strategy is more advantageous than a linear strategy for designing a shorter synthetic route because a convergent strategy enables direct coupling of functionalized fragments whereas a linear strategy involves stepwise construction of a molecule from its terminus. Radical reactions are preferred over polar reactions for the coupling of heavily functionalized and sp³-rich fragments, as they allow for C(sp³)-C(sp³) coupling without damaging diverse polar functional groups. With these considerations in mind, we designed radical-based convergent strategies for assembling highly oxygenated natural products. Here we summarize the concise total syntheses of asimicin (1, antibiotic activity), 1-hydroxytaxinine (2, cytotoxicity), polyoxins (3, antifungal activity), and hikizimycin (4, anthelmintic activity) as representative examples. Retrosynthetic disconnection at the central part of these molecules produces highly substituted α-alkoxy radicals as synthons. In the synthetic direction, the α-alkoxy radicals were generated from the corresponding α-alkoxyacyl tellurides in a unified fashion, and then utilized for four distinct coupling reactions. Formation of the Et radical from Et₃B and O₂ homolytically cleaves the C-Te bond of α-alkoxyacyl telluride, and the facile expulsion of carbon monoxide from the acyl radical leads to the α-alkoxy radical. Dimerization of the stabilized α-alkoxy radical resulted in the core structure of 1 with 10 contiguous stereocenters. The coupling adduct was derivatized to 1 through the attachment of two different carbon chains (17 steps as the longest linear sequence). Alternatively, intermolecular addition reactions of the α-alkoxy radicals to electron-deficient C═C, C═N, and C═O bonds, followed by Et₃B-mediated radical termination, led to the core structures of 2, 3, and 4, respectively. Intermolecular coupling between the α-alkoxy radical and the cyclohexenone derivative and intramolecular pinacol coupling gave rise to the 6/8/6-fused ring system of 2, which was transformed to 2 (26 steps). The two amino acid moieties of 3 were prepared by combining the α-alkoxy radical and the oxime and were then condensed to complete the synthesis of 3 (11 steps). Furthermore, a combination of α-alkoxyacyl telluride and Et₃B/O₂ realized a novel addition reaction of α-alkoxy radicals to aldehydes. This method was incorporated in the construction of the core 4-amino-5-deoxyundecose with 10 contiguous stereocenters, which was fabricated with two appendage structures to deliver 4. The four total syntheses described here demonstrate the versatility and robustness of intermolecular radical reactions. These syntheses will also provide new insights for retrosynthetic analyses in the field of organic chemistry and streamline synthetic routes to various bioactive natural products with multiple oxygen functionalities.

Syntheses of all eight stereoisomers of conidendrin

All eight stereoisomers of conidendrin were synthesized from (1 R,2 S,3 S)-1-(4-benzyloxy-3-methoxyphenyl)-3-(4-benzyloxy-3-methoxybenzyl)-2- hydroxymethyl-1,4-butanediol ((+)-4) and its enantiomer with high optical purity. The configurations at 4-positions of the conidendrin stereoisomers were constructed by intramolecular Friedel-Crafts reaction of protected 4. After conversion to tetrahydronaphthalene intermediate 7a, the 2- and 3-position of tetrahydronaphthalene structure 7a were converted to 3a- and 9a-position of (+)-α-conidendrin (3a), respectively. By the epimerization process of 2- or 3-position of 7a, the other diastereomers were obtained. All enantiomers were also synthesized from (-)-4.

Total Synthesis of 1-Hydroxytaxinine

1-Hydroxytaxinine (1) is a cytotoxic taxane diterpenoid. Its central eight-membered B-ring possesses four oxygen-functionalized centers (C1, C2, C9, and C10) and two quaternary carbon centers (C8 and C15), and is fused with six-membered A- and C-rings. The densely functionalized and intricately fused structure of 1 makes it a highly challenging synthetic target. Reported here is an efficient radical-based strategy for assembling 1 from A- and C-ring fragments. The A-ring bearing an α-alkoxyacyl telluride moiety underwent intermolecular coupling with the C-ring fragment by a Et₃ B/O₂ -promoted decarbonylative radical formation. After construction of the C8-quaternary stereocenter, a pinacol coupling reaction using a low-valent titanium reagent formed the B-ring with stereoselective installation of the C1,C2-diol. Subsequent manipulations at the A- and C-rings furnished 1 in 26 total steps.