Studies toward the synthesis of pinolidoxin, a phytotoxic nonenolide from the fungus Ascochyta pinodes. Determination of the configuration at the C-7, C-8, and C-9 chiral centers and stereoselective synthesis of the C(6)-C(18) fragment

The absolute stereochemistry at the C-7, C-8, and C-9 chiral centers of pinolidoxin (1) has been determined by chemical and spectral methods. First, the synthesis of four stereoisomeric fully benzoylated 2,3-erythro-1,2,3,4-heptanetetrols, corresponding to the C(6)-C(18) portion of the natural substance, has been accomplished starting from meso-tartaric acid. As next step, the selection of the synthetic tetrabenzoate possessing "natural" stereochemistry (10a'), suitable for absolute configuration determination, has been carried out by correlation with its "natural" homologue derived from degradation of pinolidoxin. Determination of the stereochemistry at the title chiral centers has been carried out by application of the Mosher's method both to 7a', a compound stereochemically related to 10a', and to pinolidoxin itself. The stereoselective synthesis of a protected form of the C(6)-C(18) portion of pinolidoxin, to be used in its total synthesis, has also been accomplished starting from commercially available D-erythronolactone.     

Total synthesis of (-)-callystatin A

[reaction: see text] A convergent enantioselective synthesis of the natural product (-)-callystatin A (1) is described. Key features of the synthesis include a lipase-mediated kinetic resolution to install the C5 lactone stereochemistry, a hydrozirconation-based approach to the C8-C9 trisubstituted (Z)-olefin, and a stereoselective cross-coupling of a vinyl dibromide to install the C14-C15 trisubstituted (E)-olefin.     

Synthesis of the C(1)-C(12) segment of peloruside A by an alpha-benzyloxymethyl ketone aldol strategy

The C(1)-C(12) segment of 16-membered antitumor macrolide peloruside A has been prepared by a BF(3).OEt(2)-catalyzed Mukaiyama aldol reaction between a glucose-derived C(1)-C(7) aldehyde and a C(8)-C(12) alpha-benzyloxymethyl ketone. Exclusive 2,3-anti and moderate 3,5-anti/syn facial selectivity (3.5:1) was observed in the aldol reaction. The key C(1)-C(7) aldehyde contains the required stereochemistry at carbons two, three, and five, and has been efficiently prepared on multigram scales from commercial triacetyl D-glucal. [reaction: see text]     

Model studies on a diastereoselective synthesis of the C(33)-C(37) fragment of Amphotericin B

A new, short and highly diastereoselective synthetic route aiming at the C(33)-C(37) fragment of Amphotericin B has been developed. Studies with a model aldehyde (benzaldehyde) have given very promising results: the desired stereochemistry of all four stereocenters of the target molecule has been achieved with high diastereoselection. The stereochemistry of three key intermediates and the target segment has been confirmed by X-ray crystallography.     

Synthetic studies toward phorboxazole A. stereoselective synthesis of the C(28)-C(46) side chain fragment

A stereoselective synthesis of the C(28)-C(46) fragment (3) of phorboxazole A is described. Key advances include an enantioselective allylation to establish the stereochemistry of the tetrahydropyran unit and a useful SmI(2)-mediated modification of the Barbier reaction of iodomethyloxazole 15 with aldehyde 14.     

Asymmetric Synthesis of Calyculin C. 2. Synthesis of the C(26)-C(37) Fragment and Model Wittig Couplings

We report our synthesis of the C(26)-C(37) fragment of serine/threonine protein phosphatase PP1 and PP2A inhibitor calyculin C (1). Outlined in this paper are synthetic approaches to the two components based on disconnection at the C(33)-N(3) amide bond. We report the successful synthesis of the C(33)-C(37) aza-sugar derived from D-lyxose which was coupled onto a C(26)-C(32) aminooxazole originating from L-pyroglutamic acid. Elaboration of the resulting amide to a fully deprotected C(26)-C(37) fragment of calyculin C completed our synthesis. This provided an appropriate phosphonium salt for use in a Wittig olefination for joining both halves of the natural product.     

Gram scale synthesis of the C(18)-C(34) fragment of amphidinolide C

The synthesis of the C(18)-C(34) fragment of amphidinolide C has been achieved via two routes, culminating in both the shortest (11 steps) and highest yielding (26% overall yield) approaches to this segment. The highly convergent approach will facilitate the synthesis of analogues, including the C(18)-C(29) fragment of amphidinolide F. Synthetic highlights include the selective methylation of a diyne, and the highly efficient use of a second generation cobalt catalyst in the Mukaiyama oxidative cyclization to form the trans-THF ring.     

Synthetic studies toward amphidinolide B1: synthesis of the C9-C26 fragment

[reaction: see text] The synthesis of the C9-C26 portion of amphidinolide B1 is described. A Fleming allylation followed by elimination was employed for the construction of the C13-C15 diene portion. Sharpless asymmetric dihydroxylation was utilized for regioselective functionalization of a styrene-derived alkene, in the presence of the C13-C15 diene functionality. A highly diastereoselective aldol reaction was developed to establish the C18 stereochemistry.     

Total synthesis of microtubule-stabilizing agent (-)-laulimalide.

An enantioselective first total synthesis of laulimalide (1) is described. Laulimalide, a remarkably potent antitumor macrolide, has been isolated from the Indonesian sponge Hyattella sp. and the Okinawan sponge Fasciospongia rimosa. Laulimalide represents a new class of antitumor agents with significant clinical potential. The synthesis is convergent and involved the assembly of C(3)-C(16) segment 4 and C(17)-C(28) segment 5 by Julia olefination. The sensitive C(2)-C(3) cis-olefin functionality was installed by Yamaguchi macrolactonization of a hydroxy alkynic acid followed by hydrogenation of the resulting alkynoic lactone over Lindlar's catalyst. Initial attempts of intramolecular Still's variant of Horner-Emmons olefination between the C(19)-phosphonocetate and C(3)-aldehyde provided a 1:2 mixture of cis- and trans-macrolactones. The trans-isomer was photoisomerized to a mixture of cis- and trans-isomers. The other key steps involved ring-closing olefin metathesis to construct both dihydropyran units, stereoselective anomeric alkylation to functionalize the dihydropyran ring, stereoselective reduction of the resulting alkynyl ketone to set the C(20)-hydroxyl stereochemistry, and a novel Julia olefination protocol for the installation of the C(13)-exo-methylene unit. The sensitive epoxide at C(16)-C(17) was introduced in a highly stereoselective manner by Sharpless epoxidation at the final stage of the synthesis.     

Stereoselective synthesis of the C(1)-C(11) fragment of peloruside A

A highly stereoselective synthesis of the C(1)-C(11) fragment 4 of peloruside A has been accomplished via a stereoselective double allylboration and an intramolecular epoxide opening to provide the functionally dense C(3)-C(11) segment 14. A glycolate aldol reaction was then employed to introduce the remaining stereocenters at C(2)-C(3). [reaction: see text]     

Stereochemical elucidation and total synthesis of dihydropacidamycin D, a semisynthetic pacidamycin.

Hydrogenation of the C(4') exocyclic olefin of the pacidamycins has been shown to produce a series of semisynthetic compounds, the dihydropacidamycins, with antimicrobial activity similar to that of the natural products. Elucidation of stereochemistry in the pacidamycins has been completed through a campaign of natural product degradation experiments in combination with the total synthesis of the lowest-molecular weight dihydropacidamycin, dihydropacidamycin D. The stereochemical identities of the tryptophan and two alanine residues contained in pacidamycin D have been shown to be of the natural (S) configuration, and the unique 3-methylamino-2-aminobutyric acid contained in this series of antibiotics has been shown to be of the (2S,3S) configuration. Finally, the stereochemistry obtained by hydrogenation of the C(4')-C(5') exocyclic olefin has been shown to be (R) at the C(4') nucleoside site.     

A second-generation synthesis of the C1-C28 portion of the altohyrtins (spongistatins)

A practical second-generation synthesis of an advanced intermediate in our total synthesis of altohyrtin C (spongistatin 2) has been developed. A new approach to the C1-C15 (AB) portion features a vinyllithium addition to an aldehyde followed by a palladium-catalyzed allylic reduction to install the troublesome C13-C15 segment. Our general approach to the C16-C28 (CD) spiroketal has been retained, but some improvements have been made. Most notably, the kinetically controlled CD-spiroketalization reaction now proceeds in high yield with excellent diastereoselection. This new strategy uses the anti-aldol coupling used in our first-generation synthesis to join AB and CD fragments. A total of 9.6 g of intermediate 57 has been produced using this improved route.     

Enantiospecific total synthesis of (-)-(E)16-epiaffinisine, (+)-(E)16-epinormacusine B,and (+)-dehydro-16-epiaffinisine as well as the stereocontrolled total synthesis of alkaloid G

An efficient strategy is described for the total synthesis of the sarpagine-related indole alkaloids (-)-(E)16-epiaffinisine (1), (+)-(E)16-epinormacusine B (2), and (+)-dehydro-16-epiaffinisine (4). A key step employed the chemospecific and regiospecific hydroboration/oxidation at C(16)-C(17); this method has also resulted in the synthesis of (+)-dehydro-16-epinormacusine B (5). The oxy-anion Cope rearrangement followed by protonation of the enolate that resulted under conditions of kinetic control has been employed to generate the key asymmetric centers at C(15), C(16), and C(20) in alkaloid G (7) in a highly stereocontrolled fashion (>43:1). Conditions that favor control of the sarpagine stereochemistry at C(16) vs the epimeric ajmaline configuration at the same stereocenter have been determined. The formation of the required cyclic ether in 4, 5, and 7 was realized with complete control from the top face on treatment of the corresponding alcohols with DDQ/THF or DDQ/aq THF in excellent yields.     

Crotylsilane reagents in the synthesis of complex polyketide natural products: total synthesis of (+)-discodermolide

An efficient, highly convergent stereocontrolled synthesis of (+)-discodermolide has been achieved with 2.1% overall yield (27 steps longest linear sequence). The absolute stereochemistry of the C1-C6 (12), C7-C14 (13), and C15-C24 (11) subunits was introduced using asymmetric crotylation methodology. Key elements of the synthesis include the use of hydrozirconation-cross-coupling methodology for the construction of C13-C14 (Z)-olefin, acetate aldol reaction to construct the C6-C7 bond and install the C7 stereocenter with high levels of 1,5-anti stereoinduction, and the use of palladium-mediated sp(2)-sp(3) cross-coupling reaction to join the advanced fragments, which assembled the carbon framework of discodermolide.     

Total synthesis and complete assignment of the stereostructure of a cytotoxic bromotriterpene polyether (+)-aurilol

The plane structure and partial stereochemistry of a cytotoxic bromotriterpene polyether (+)-aurilol (1), isolated from the sea hare Dolabella auricularia, were mainly elucidated by NMR methods; however, determination of the entire stereochemistry has not been reached. Although there have also been many other types of triterpene polyethers, it is often difficult to determine their stereostructures even by the current highly advanced spectroscopic methods, especially in acyclic systems including quaternary carbon centers such as C10-C11, C14-C15, and C18-C19 in 1. In this paper, we report that the total assignment of the incomplete stereostructure of (+)-aurilol (1) to the structural formula 2 has been accomplished through its first asymmetric total synthesis featuring the highly regio- and stereocontrolled biogenetic-like A-D ether ring formations.     

Synthesis and bioassay of all four stereoisomers of (2E,4E)-4,6,10,12-tetramethyl-2,4-tridecadien-7-one, the assignment of the absolute configuration of the sex pheromone of Matsucoccus matsumurae Japanese pine bast scale

A facile enantioselective synthesis of all four stereoisomers of (2E,4E)-4,6,10,12-tetramethyl-2,4-tridecadien-7-one (1) is described. The stereochemistry at 6-C and 10-C of 1 was constructed by using optically active citronellal as starting material and by the asymmetric crotylic metal reaction. In the bioassay and field tests, only la, i.e. (6R,10R)-1 was active. The other three isomers 1b (6S,10R), 1c (6R,10S) and 1d (6S,10S) were inactive. Therefore, the naturally occurring pheromone was assigned as (6K,10R)-1.     

Total synthesis of the epidermal growth factor inhibitor (-)-reveromycin B

The total synthesis of the epidermal growth factor inhibitor reveromycin B (2) in 25 linear steps from chiral methylene pyran 13 is described. The key steps involved an inverse electron demand hetero-Diels-Alder reaction between dienophile 13 and diene 12 to construct the 6,6-spiroketal 11 which upon oxidation with dimethyldioxirane and acid catalyzed rearrangement gave the 5,6-spiroketal aldehyde 9. Lithium acetylide addition followed by oxidation/reduction and protective group manipulation provided the reveromycin B spiroketal core 8 which was converted into the reveromycin A (1) derivative 6 in order to confirm the stereochemistry of the spiroketal segment. Introduction of the C1-C10 side chain began with sequential Wittig reactions to form the C8-C9 and C7-C6 bonds, and a tin mediated asymmetric aldol reaction installed the C4 and C5 stereocenters. The final key steps to the target molecule 2 involved a Stille coupling to introduce the C21-C22 bond, succinoylation, selective deprotection, oxidation, and Wittig condensation to form the final C2-C3 bond. Deprotection was effected by TBAF in DMF to afford reveromycin B (2) in 72% yield.     

Stereospecific synthesis of the C(3)-C(10) segment of aplasmomycin from (R)-pulegone

A key subunit of aplasmomycin comprising C3-C10 of the symmetrical macrodiolide structure has been synthesized in optically pure form by two routes from (R)-(+)-pulegone.     

Concise formal synthesis of the bryostatin southern hemisphere (C17-C27)

An efficient synthesis of Hale and co-workers' C17-C27 bryostatin southern hemisphere intermediate has been accomplished in six steps and 33% overall yield from (R)-2-(benzyloxy)propanal. The synthesis features a one-pot DIBALH/HWE ester homologation as well as a novel acetonide rearrangement/glycal formation cascade.     

Evolution of a protecting-group-free total synthesis: studies en route to the neuroactive marine macrolide (-)-palmyrolide A

A full account of our synthetic work toward the first total synthesis of the neuroactive marine macrolide (-)-palmyrolide A is described. Our first-generation approach aimed to unlock the unknown C(5)-C(7) stereochemical relationship via the synthesis of four diastereomers of palmyrolide A aldehyde, a known degradation product. When these efforts provided inconclusive results, recourse to synthesizing all possible stereocombinations of the 15-membered macrolide was undertaken. These studies were critical in confirming the absolute stereochemistry, yielding the first total synthesis of (+)-ent-palmyrolide A. Subsequent to this work, the first protecting-group-free total synthesis of natural (-)-palmyrolide A is also reported.