Iridium-Catalyzed Asymmetric Cascade Allylation/Retro-Claisen Reaction

An enantiomerically enriched 3-hydroxymethyl pentenal unit is one of the key structural cores in plenty of natural products and drug candidates with significant biological activities. However, very few synthetic methodologies for the facile construction of the related skeletons have been reported to date. Herein, an elegant iridium-catalyzed asymmetric cascade allylation/retro-Claisen reaction of readily available β-diketones with VEC was successfully developed, and a wide range of functionalized chiral 3-hydroxymethyl pentenal derivatives could be prepared in good yields with excellent enantioselectivities. Various 1,3-diketones and functionalized ketones containing different electron-withdrawing groups on the β-position were well tolerated as outstanding partners with high reactivity and excellent regio-/chemo-/enantioselectivity. The synthetic utility of product chiral 3-hydroxymethyl pentenal derivatives was well shown through gram-scale transformation, hydrogenation, cyclopropanation, hydroboration, and olefin metathesis. Moreover, this elegant protocol demonstrated synthetic applications in the concise synthesis of synthetically useful chiral building block (S)-Taniguchi lactone and the formal synthesis of natural product cytisine. A rational reaction pathway was proposed based on the experimental results and control experiments.

Total Synthesis of Chlorinated Oxylipin Eiseniachloride B

Eiseniachloride B is a marine chlorinated oxylipin isolated from the brown alga Eisenia bicyclis. This natural product contains cyclopentane, chlorohydrin, and 14-membered lactone systems that incorporate five stereogenic centers. In this paper, we report on the total synthesis of structurally unique oxylipin eiseniachloride B from optically active lactol via ecklonialactone B in a linear sequence comprising 11 steps with a 12.1% overall yield.

Total synthesis of marine eicosanoid (-)-hybridalactone

(-)-Hybridalactone (1) is a marine eicosanoid isolated from the red alga Laurencia hybrida. This natural product contains cyclopropane, cyclopentane, 13-membered macrolactone and epoxide ring systems incorporating seven stereogenic centers. Moreover, this compound has an acid-labile skipped Z,Z-diene motif. In this paper, we report on the total synthesis of (-)-hybridalactone (1). The unique eicosanoid (-)-hybridalactone (1) was synthesized starting from optically active γ-butyrolactone 2 in a linear sequence comprising 21 steps with an overall yield of 21.9%. A key step in the synthesis of (-)-hybridalactone (1) is the methyl phenylsulfonylacetate-mediated one-pot synthesis of the cis-cyclopropane-γ-lactone derivative. This reaction provided an efficient and stereoselective access to cis-cyclopropane-γ-lactone 12. Further elaboration of the latter compounds through desulfonylation, epoxidation, oxidation, Wittig olefination and Shiina macrolactonization afforded (-)-hybridalactone.