Fenestranes in Synthesis: Unique and Highly Inspiring Scaffolds

The scaffold of fenestranes is quite unique, as it contains four condensed cycles and a distorted tetracoordinated central carbon atom with bond angles greater than the regular 109°28“. In this Minireview, a detailed overview on the developments regarding this compound class, including their synthesis, is given for the time period since 2006. In the past years, natural products that belong to the class of heterofenestranes have been isolated and their syntheses will also be discussed.     

Synthesis of a Bicyclobutane Fatty Acid Identified from the Cyanobacterium Anabaena PCC 7120

By design: A carbanion-mediated cyclization reaction cascade serves as the key final step in the total synthesis of a novel oxylipin, which features a strained bicyclo[1.1.0]butane conjugated to a labile vinyl epoxide.     

Total Synthesis of (+)‐Pleuromutilin

The first enantiospecific total synthesis of the antibacterial natural product (+)‐pleuromutilin has been achieved. The approach includes the synthesis of a non‐racemic cyclisation substrate from (+)‐trans‐dihydrocarvone, a highly selective SmI₂‐mediated cyclisation cascade, an electron transfer reduction of a hindered ester, and the first efficient conversion of (+)‐mutilin to the target.     

Lessons in Strain and Stability: Enantioselective Synthesis of (+)‐[5]‐Ladderanoic Acid

The synthesis of structurally complex and highly strained natural products provides unique challenges and unexpected opportunities for the development of new reactions and strategies. Herein, the synthesis of (+)‐[5]‐ladderanoic acid is reported. En route to the target, unusual and unexpected strain release driven transformations were uncovered. This occurrence required a drastic revision of the synthetic design that ultimately led to the development of a novel stepwise cyclobutane assembly by an allylboration/Zweifel olefination sequence.     

Total Synthesis of (−)‐FR182877 through Tandem IMDA–IMHDA Reactions and Stereoselective Transition‐Metal‐Mediated Transformations

Intelligent design : The total synthesis of the cytotoxic (?)‐FR182877 relies on 1) tandem Diels–Alder reactions to close rings A–D (see scheme), 2) a palladium‐mediated 7‐exo‐trig reaction, and 3) an iridium‐mediated isomerization followed by epimerization and stereoselective reduction.

     

A Naphtho‐Fused Double [7]Helicene from a Maleate‐Bridged Chrysene Trimer

Perkin condensation of chrysenyl‐6‐acetic acid with chrysenylene‐6,12‐diglyoxylic acid followed by in situ esterification gives a bismaleate, whose conjugated stilbene moieties are efficiently shielded against intermolecular condensations and undergo iodine‐catalyzed oxidative photocyclization in toluene without the need for high dilution. The concentration is limited by the low solubility of the flexible bismaleate at room temperature. The so‐obtained double [7]helicene crystallizes in a nonchiral meso form. It is notably more soluble than its flexible precursor because it cannot fold to optimize π–π stacking.     

Unified syntheses of cavicularin and riccardin C: addressing the synthesis of an arene adopting a boat configuration

Concise syntheses of the natural products cavicularin (ten steps) and riccardin C (seven steps) are reported. Key features of the new synthetic route are a convergent strategy to assemble acyclic precursors and a sequence of regioselective reduction and halogenation steps to facilitate Wittig macrocyclisation and transannular ring contraction reactions.     

包含平面五配位和平面四配位碳化合物的结构和稳定性

在B3LYP/6-311+G**水平上,研究了包含平面五配位碳(ppC)和平面四配位碳(ptC)的化合物CB5C2H2(C3B2)nC2H2CB5(n=1-5)的结构、能隙、IR光谱、电子光谱、Wiberg键指数以及芳香性.计算结果表明,这五种化合物的能量最低结构均位于势能面的极小值点,HOMO-LUMO能隙在0.5到1.2eV之间,第一电子的激发能在1780到2910nm之间,且与分子尺寸呈现非单调变化趋势.Wiberg键指数和键长表明这五种化合物的能量最低结构均包含平面五配位和平面四配位碳.C3B2单元和右侧CB5单元中三元环中心的核独立化学位移(NICS(0))值均为负值,而左侧CB5单元中的三元环中心的NICS(0)值中两个为正值,另两个为负值,NICS(1)值与NICS(0)值也一致,因此电子的局域离域对结构的稳定是很重要的.     

Strained Alkenes in Natural Product Synthesis

Strained molecules continue to challenge the ingenuity of chemists as their high‐energy bonds serve as fuel for the promotion of complex synthetic transformations. Developments in this area have resulted in the recent emergence of strained alkenes as intermediates in natural product synthesis. This Minireview highlights these recent advances along with current developments toward understanding the unique reactivity of strained alkenes.     

Ladderane Natural Products: From the Ground Up

The ladderane family of natural products are well known for their linearly concatenated cyclobutane skeletal structure. Owing to their unique carbocyclic framework, several chemical syntheses have been reported since their discovery in 2002. The focus of this review is to showcase the novel tactics that have been used to generate the ladderane core and the challenges that are associated with the synthesis of these unusual and complex natural products.     

ortho‐Phenylene‐Bridged Cyclic Oligopyrroles: Conformational Flexibilities and Optical Properties

ortho‐Phenylene‐bridged cyclic trimeric oligopyrrole C3 and hexameric oligopyrrole C6 were synthesized by Suzuki–Miyaura coupling reactions. The twisted structures of C3 and C6 were unambiguously revealed by X‐ray diffraction analysis. The optical properties of these cyclic oligopyrroles were compared with linear oligopyrrole L3 and cyclic tetramer C4 . The cyclic oligopyrroles exhibited large Stokes shifts and blue fluorescence with high quantum yields in solution and in the solid state. In addition, selective N‐methylation and N‐tolylation of C3 were used to tune the optical and electrochemical properties by changing the molecular twists and conformational flexibilities. Throughout these studies, the structure–property relationship of these cyclic strained oligopyrroles has been illustrated as an interesting molecular motif for novel cyclic π‐conjugated systems.     

Planar Tetracoordinate Silicon in Organic Molecules As Carbenoid-Type Amphoteric Centers: A Computational Study

Designing and synthesizing a stable compound with a planar tetracoordinate silicon (ptSi) center is a challenging goal for chemists. Here, a series of potential aromatic ptSi compounds composed of four conjugated rings shared by a centrally embedded Si atom are theoretically designed and computationally verified. Both Born–Oppenheimer molecular dynamics (BOMD) simulations and potential energy surface scannings verify the high stability and likely existence of these compounds, particularly Si-16-5555 (SiN₄C₈H₈) with 16 π electrons, under standard ambient temperature and pressure. Notably, the Hückel aromaticity rule, which works well for single rings, is inconsistent with the high stability of Si-16-5555 where the 16 p electrons are spread over four five-membered rings fused together. Bonding analyses show that the strong electron donation from the peripheral 12-membered conjugated ring with 16 π electrons to the vacant central atomic orbital Si 3p_z leads to the stabilization for both the ptSi coordination and planar aromaticity. The partial occupation of Si 3p_z results in the peculiar carbenoid-type behaviors for the amphoteric center. By modulating the electron density on the ring with substituent groups, we can regulate the nucleophilic and electrophilic properties of the central Si.     

Fullerene[51] with Quasi-planar Tetracoordinate Carbons and Its Derivatives

我们设计了包含准平面四配位碳原子的Fullerene[51]及其八个包含准平面四配位碳原子的衍生物，而且采用B3LYP方法研究了它们的结构、稳定性和成键性质。结果表明：这九种新型化合物是稳定的，它们的垂直电离能很大，而垂直电子亲和势相对较小。这些结构都包含五员环和六员环、以及更大的十员环。     

Synthesis and Structures of Polyphenylphenanthrenes

1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8-Octaphenylphenanthrene ( 4 ) and decaphenylphenanthrene ( 5 ) were prepared by very short syntheses (two or three steps) from tetraphenylfuran and polybrominated benzene derivatives. The X-ray structures of compounds 4 and 5 show them to be quite crowded, with the phenanthrene cores twisted by about 40° due to the clash of the C4 and C5 phenyl groups. Compound 4 was resolved by chromatography on a chiral support, and its free energy of activation for racemization was determined to be 24.6 kcal mol⁻¹ at 40 °C. Computational studies indicate that compound 5 has a racemization barrier approximately 6 kcal mol⁻¹ lower than 4 , and thus 5 would not be configurationally stable at room temperature.