Convenient route to enantiopure aryl cyclopentanes via Diels-Alder reaction of asymmetric dienes. Total synthesis of (+)-herbertene and (+)-cuparene

A general route for the synthesis of highly substituted aryl cyclopentanes has been developed involving Diels-Alder reaction of asymmetric dienes prepared from (+)-camphoric acid followed by aromatization of the resulting cyclohexene derivatives. Employing this protocol enantiospecific synthesis of (+)-herbertene and (+)-cuparene has been accomplished.     

Highly Enantioselective,Organocatalytic, and Scalable Synthesis of a Rare cis,cis-Tricyclic Diterpenoid

A highly enantioselective, organocatalytic, and scalable synthesis of a very unusual cis-decalin-cis-hydrindane tricyclic diterpenoid system has been achieved. Despite the prevalent pharmacological space that the related trans,trans and trans,cis-systems occupy, there have been no reports of an asymmetric synthesis of the cis,cis systems in the literature until now. We demonstrate the flexibility of our approach not only through access to a diverse range of products, all of which are attained in exceptionally high selectivities, but also by showing their easy conversion to the corresponding trans,cis-system and other derivatives.     

Structural Diversity from the Transannular Cyclizations of Natural Germacrone and Epoxy Derivatives: A Theoretical–Experimental Study

Treatment of germacrone ( 1 ) with different electrophiles, and of its epoxy derivatives germacrone‐4,5‐epoxide ( 2 ), germacrone‐1,10‐epoxide ( 3 ) and isogermacrone‐4,5‐epoxide ( 4 ) with Brönsted/Lewis acids and Ti^III, gives rise to a great structural diversity. Thus, by using a maximum of two steps, the production of more than 40 compounds corresponding to 14 skeletons is described. Computational calculations rationalizing the structural divergence produced are also described. Finally, since some of the compounds generated are bioactive natural sesquiterpenes, the mechanisms of formation of these substances will provide new insights in their biosynthesis.     

Simultaneous determination of terpenes and cannabidiol in hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) by fast gas chromatography with flame ionization detection

Hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) has become widely used in several sectors due to the presence of various bioactive compounds such as terpenes and cannabidiol. In general, terpenes and cannabidiol content is determined separately, which is time consuming. Thus, a fast gas chromatography with flame ionization detection method was validated for simultaneous determination of both terpenes and cannabidiol in hemp. The method enabled a rapid detection of 29 different terpenes and cannabidiol within a total analysis time of 16 min, with satisfactory sensitivity (limit of detection = 0.03–0.27 µg/mL, limit of quantitation = 0.10–0.89 µg/mL). The inter‐ and intraday precision (RSD) was <7.82 and <3.59%, respectively. Recoveries at two spiked concentration levels (low, 3.15 µg/mL; high, 20.0 µg/mL) were determined on both apical leaves (78.55–101.52%) and inflorescences (77.52–107.10%). The reproducibility (RSD) was <5.94 and <5.51% in apical leaves and inflorescences, respectively. The proposed and validated method is highly sensitive, robust, fast, and accurate for determination of the main terpenes and cannabidiol in hemp and could be routinely used for quality control.     

Hydrogen-Peroxide Epoxidation of Natural Olefins Catalyzed by a Dinuclear Manganese Complex

The complex of Mn(IV) with the macrocyclic N-containing ligand 1,4,7-trimethyl-1,4,7-triazacyclononane (L) [L₂Mn₂O₃](PF6)2 catalyzes epoxidation of (+)-limonene in CH₃CN solution at room temperature. Adding CH₃COOH accelerates the reaction. The products are isomers of limonene epoxide with predominance of that with an epoxified ring double bond. Epoxidation of - and -pinene by this system is less effective, apparently due to extensive steric shielding of the double bonds in the pinenes.     

Stereocontrolled total syntheses of (±)-clovan-3-one and (±)-epi-clovan-3-one and a facile total synthesis of (±)-pseudoclovene-A

Stereocontrolled total syntheses of the bridged tricyclic ketones (±)-clovan-3-one (5) and (±)-epi-clovan-3-one (6) and a facile total synthesis of the tricyclic sesquiterpene (±)-pseudoclovene-A (3) have been successfully accomplished involving participation of an aryl intramolecular cyclisation of the bromophenol 11 as a key step.     

Model studies of the optical rotation,and theoretical determination of its sign for β‐pinene and trans‐pinane

We have carried out extensive studies on the basis set dependence of the calculated specific optical rotation (OR) in molecules at the level of the time–dependent Hartree–Fock and density functional approximations. To reach the limits of the basis set saturation, we have devised an artificial model, the asymmetrically deformed (chiral) methane (CM) molecule. This small system permits to use basis sets which are prohibitively large for real chiral molecules and yet shows all the important features of the basis set dependence of the OR values. The convergence of the OR has been studied with n‐aug‐cc‐pVXZ basis sets of Dunning up to the 6–ζ. In a parallel series of calculations, we have used the recently developed large polarized (LPolX) basis sets. The relatively small LPolX sets have been shown to be competitive to very large n‐aug‐cc‐pVXZ basis sets. The conclusions reached in calculations of OR in CM concerning the usefulness of LPolX basis sets have been further tested on (S)‐methyloxirane and (S)‐fluoro‐oxirane. The smallest set of the LPolX family (LPol–ds) has been found to yield OR values of similar quality as those obtained with much larger Dunning's aug‐cc‐pVQZ basis set. These results have encouraged us to carry out the OR calculations with LPol–ds basis sets for systems as large as β‐pinene and trans‐pinane. In both cases, our calculations have lead to the correct sign of the OR value in these molecules. This makes the relatively small LPol–ds basis sets likely to be useful in OR calculations for large molecules. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Comput Chem, 2010