Scalable synthesis of enantiomerically pure syn-2,3-dihydroxybutyrate by Sharpless asymmetric dihydroxylation of p-phenylbenzyl crotonate

An Enantioselective Decarboxylative Glycolate Aldol Reaction

Herein, we report the application of a benzyloxy-functionalized malonic acid half thioester as an activated ester equivalent in a highly enantioselective decarboxylative glycolate aldol reaction. This robust method operates at ambient temperature, tolerates air and moisture, and generates CO2 as the only byproduct. The synthetic applicability of the method is demonstrated by the large-scale enantiodivergent synthesis of α-benzyloxy-β-hydroxybutyric acid thioester and its subsequent conversion to diverse polyoxygenated building blocks, deoxy-sugars, and (-)-angiopterlactone B.

Diastereoselective additions of allylmetal reagents to free and protected syn-α,β-dihydroxyketones enable efficient synthetic routes to methyl trioxacarcinoside A

Two routes to the 2,6-dideoxysugar methyl trioxacarcinoside A are described. Each was enabled by an apparent α-chelation-controlled addition of an allylmetal reagent to a ketone substrate containing a free α-hydroxyl group and a β-hydroxyl substituent, either free or protected as the corresponding di-tert-butylmethyl silyl ether. Both routes provide practical access to gram quantities of trioxacarcinose A in a form suitable for glycosidic coupling reactions.