syn-Benzene dioxides: chemoenzymatic synthesis from 2,3-cis-dihydrodiol derivatives of monosubstituted benzenes and their application in the synthesis of regioisomeric 1,2- and 3,4-cis-dihydrodiols and 1,4-dioxocins

Peculiar Reaction Products and Mechanisms Revisited with Machine Learning-Augmented Computational NMR

DU8ML, a fast and accurate machine learning-augmented density functional theory (DFT) method for computing nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectra, proved effective for high-throughput revision of misassigned natural products. In this paper, we disclose another important aspect of its application: correction of unusual reaction mechanisms originally proposed because of incorrect product structures.

Development of domino processes by using 7-silylcycloheptatrienes and its analogues

7-Silyl- and 7-silylmethylcycloheptatrienes were shown to react with acylnitroso reagents at room temperature, through their norcaradiene forms, to generate the corresponding cycloadducts 5 a-b and 6 a-b as single diastereomers. The course of the reaction was dramatically modified by changing the reaction conditions. Using a polar medium, functionalized cyclohexa-1,3-dienes 7 a-b and bicyclic compounds 13 a-b were instead generated, incorporating one or two amino groups. Similar behavior was observed by using other dienophiles, including triazolinedione, but also activated aldehydes and ketones. A tentative mechanism has been proposed to rationalize the formation of both classes of products that relies on a domino process involving four consecutive elementary steps, in this order: 1) electrocyclic process, 2) hetero-Diels-Alder reaction, 3) cyclopropane ring opening, and 4) hetero-Diels-Alder reaction. Trapping of the cationic intermediate and isolation of the primary cycloadduct provide support for this hypothesis. An enantioselective version of the cascade using cycloheptatriene 4 b and aldehydes and ketones, under copper(II) catalysis was also carried out, leading to cyclohexa-1,3-dienes 21, 28, and 30 with enantioselectivities up to 93 % ee. Finally, elaboration of the intermediates above has been carried out, opening a straightforward access to sugar mimics 42-43 and complex polycyclic systems 36 and 39.

Chemoenzymatic synthesis of carbasugars (+)-pericosines A-C from diverse aromatic cis-dihydrodiol precursors

cis-Dihydrocatechols, derived from biological cis-dihydroxylation of methyl benzoate, iodobenzene and benzonitrile, using the microorganism Pseudomonas putida UV4, were converted into pericosines A, C, and B, respectively. This approach constitutes the shortest syntheses, to date, of these important natural products with densely packed functionalities.