Practical synthesis of the C-ring precursor of paclitaxel from 3-methoxytoluene

Asymmetric Total Synthesis of (-)-Phaeocaulisin A

The therapeutic properties of Curcuma (ginger and turmeric’s family) have long been known in traditional medicine. However, only recently have guaiane-type sesquiterpenes extracted from Curcuma phaeocaulis been submitted to biological testing, and their enhanced bioactivity was highlighted. Among these compounds, phaeocaulisin A has shown remarkable anti-inflammatory and anticancer activity, which appears to be tied to the unique bridged acetal moiety embedded in its tetracyclic framework. Prompted by the promising biological profile of phaeocaulisin A and by the absence of a synthetic route for its provision, we have implemented the first enantioselective total synthesis of phaeocaulisin A in 17 steps with 2% overall yield. Our route design builds on the identification of an enantioenriched lactone intermediate, tailored with both a ketone moiety and a conjugated alkene system. Taking advantage of the umpolung carbonyl-olefin coupling reactivity enabled by the archetypal single-electron transfer (SET) reductant samarium diiodide (SmI₂), the lactone intermediate was submitted to two sequential SmI₂-mediated cyclizations to stereoselectively construct the polycyclic core of the natural product. Crucially, by exploiting the innate inner-sphere nature of carbonyl reduction using SmI₂, we have used a steric blocking strategy to render sites SET-unreceptive and thus achieve chemoselective reduction in a complex substrate. Our asymmetric route enabled elucidation of the naturally occurring isomer of phaeocaulisin A and provides a synthetic platform to access other guaiane-type sesquiterpenes from C. phaeocaulis—as well as their synthetic derivatives—for medicinal chemistry and drug design.

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.

Total synthesis of (+)-ent-vetiverianine a via Lewis acid-mediated cyclization

We describe the first total synthesis of (+)-ent-vetiverianine A, which exhibits a 5/6/6-fused tricyclic structure, with the longest linear sequence of 14 steps, and in 12% overall yield.

Crystal structure of (+)-(1S,5S,6S,7S,10S,11S,16S)-16-hy-droxy-7-(meth-oxy-meth-oxy)-11,15,18,18-tetra-methyl-3,13-dioxo-2,4-dioxa-tetra-cyclo[12.3.1.01,5.06,11]octa-dec-14-en-10-yl benzoate

In the fused tetra-cyclic system of the title compound, C29H36O9, the five-membered dioxolane ring adopts a twist conformation; the two adjacent C atoms deviate alternately from the mean plane of the other three atoms by -0.252 (6) and 0.340 (6) Å. The cyclo-hexane, cyclo-hexene and central cyclo-octane rings show chair, half-chair and boat-chair forms, respectively. There are three intra-molecular C-H⋯O inter-actions supporting the mol-ecular conformation, with one S(6) and two S(7) graph-set motifs. In the crystal, inter-molecular O-H⋯O hydrogen bonds connect the mol-ecules into a helical chain running along the c-axis direction, generating a C(7) graph-set motif. The chains are further linked by inter-molecular C-H⋯O inter-actions to construct a three-dimensional network. There is no valid C-H⋯π inter-action.