Organocatalytic 1,4-conjugate addition of ascorbic acid to α,β-unsaturated aldehydes: bio-inspired total syntheses of leucodrin, leudrin and proposed structure of dilaspirolactone

Synthetic Strategies to Access Heteroatomic Spirocentres Embedded in Natural Products

The spirocyclic motif is abundant in natural products and provides an ideal three-dimensional template to interact with biological targets. With significant attention historically expended on the synthesis of flat-heterocyclic compound libraries, methods to access the less-explored three-dimensional medicinal-chemical space will continue to increase in demand. Herein, we highlight by reaction class the common strategies used to construct the spirocyclic centres embedded in a series of well-studied natural products.

1 Introduction

2 Cycloadditions

3 Palladium-Catalysed Coupling Reactions

4 Conjugate Additions

5 Imines, Aminals, and Hemiaminal Ethers

6 Mannich-Type Reactions

7 Oxidative Dearomatisation

8 Alkylation

9 Organometallic Additions

10 Conclusions

Synthesis of l-Ascorbic Acid Lactone Derivatives

A small focused library which comprised of l-AA lactone derivatives was built with a facile method. This reported method was optimized by modifying the acidity of the solvent. As a result, 12 l-AA lactones were synthesized. Among these lactones, lactones 8-12 were new compounds. The cytotoxicity of these synthetic compounds were investigated.