Concise Approach to 1,4-Dioxygenated Xanthones via Novel Application of the Moore Rearrangement

The rapid synthesis of 1,4-dioxygenated xanthones and related natural products employing the Moore rearrangement as a key transformation has been developed. The approach features an acetylide stitching step to unite a substituted squaric acid with a protected hydroxy benzaldehyde derivative to provide a key intermediate that undergoes facile Moore rearrangement to deliver a hydroxymethyl aryl quinone. Subsequent oxidation, hydroxy group deprotection and cyclization then affords highly functionalized xanthones. The utility of the approach was demonstrated by its application to a concise and efficient synthesis of the naturally-occurring xanthone 1. The structure of a natural product that had been named dulcisxanthone C was also corrected to that of the xanthone 1.     

The application of vinylogous iminium salt derivatives to an efficient synthesis of the pyrrole containing alkaloids Rigidin and Rigidin E

Studies directed on the synthesis of the pyrrole containing marine natural products Rigidin and Rigidin E via vinylogous iminium salts are described. The successful strategy relies on the formation of a 2,4-disubstituted pyrrole from a vinamidinium salt followed by acylation at the 5-position of pyrrole. Halogenation and aminocarbonylation at the 3-position of pyrrole followed by hydrolysis of the ester group at C-2 and subsequent Curtius rearrangement generates the pyrrolopyrimidine skeleton. A final deprotection step completes the synthesis of Rigidin and Rigidin E.     

Total synthesis, structure revision, and absolute configuration of (+)-yatakemycin

The total synthesis of the reported structure 2 for yatakemycin, an exceptionally potent, naturally occurring antitumor agent disclosed in 2003, and its lack of correlation with the natural product are detailed. On the basis of spectroscopic distinctions between 2 and yatakemycin, the natural product structure was reformulated as 3, now bearing a thiomethyl ester versus thioacetate in the left-hand subunit. Total synthesis of 3 provided a compound nearly identical to but still subtly distinct from the natural product. A second reformulation of the yatakemycin structure as 1, incorporating the alternatively substituted right-hand subunit as well as the initial thiomethyl ester reformulation, was confirmed by total synthesis of both (+)- and ent-(-)-1 in studies that also unambiguously established the absolute configuration of the natural product.     

Towards the synthesis of Palmerolide A: asymmetric synthesis of C1–C14 fragment

The synthesis of a C1–C14 fragment of a marine cytotoxic natural product Palmerolide A is described. The key steps involved in this synthesis are deoxygenative rearrangement of an alkynol followed by an asymmetric dihydroxylation of a diene ester and CBS-reduction.     

Transition‐Metal‐Free C(sp2)–C(sp2) Cross‐Coupling of Diazo Quinones with Catechol Boronic Esters

A transition‐metal‐free C(sp²)?C(sp²) bond formation reaction by the cross‐coupling of diazo quinones with catechol boronic esters was developed. With this protocol, a variety of biaryls and alkenyl phenols were obtained in good to high yields under mild conditions. The reaction tolerates various functionalities and is applicable to the derivatization of pharmaceuticals and natural products. The synthetic utility of the method was demonstrated by the short synthesis of multi‐substituted triphenylenes and three bioactive natural products, honokiol, moracin M, and stemofuran A. Mechanistic studies and density functional theory (DFT) calculations revealed that the reaction involves attack of the boronic ester by a singlet quinone carbene followed by a 1,2‐rearrangement through a stepwise mechanism.     

Asymmetric synthesis of (+)-geranyllinaloisocyanide: assignment of absolute stereochemistry

The first nonracemic synthesis of (+)-geranyllinaloisocyanide, starting with (-)-lactic acid methyl ester, has been accomplished by exploiting a [3.3] sigmatropic rearrangement of allyl cyanate. The synthesis enables assignment of the S configuration of the C(3) isocyano substituted, quaternary stereogenic center in natural geranyllinaloisocyanide.     

Total synthesis of (±)-bruguierol A via an intramolecular [3+2] cycloaddition of cyclopropane 1,1-diester

Total synthesis of natural product (±)-bruguierol A was accomplished in 10-steps and with an overall 16.8% yield. The embedded unique 8-oxabicyclo[3.2.1]octane core skeleton in this natural product was constructed via a novel Sc(OTf)₃-catalyzed intramolecular [3+2] cycloaddition of cyclopropane, which was developed recently in this laboratory. This general synthetic strategy can be potentially applied to the synthesis of a broad range of structurally related natural products.     

Acid catalyzed stereoselective rearrangement and dimerization of flavenes: synthesis of dependensin

Appropriately substituted flavenes undergo stereoselective rearrangement and dimerization when treated with methanolic hydrochloric acid to give benzopyranobenzopyrans. A rationale for the rearrangement is proposed. This synthetic methodology has been used for a high yield synthesis of the natural product dependensin.     

Internally Protected Amino Sugar Equivalents from Enantiopure 1,2‐Oxazines: Synthesis of Variably Configured Carbohydrates with C‐Branched Amino Sugar Units

A stereodivergent synthesis of differently configured C2‐branched 4‐amino sugar derivatives was accomplished. The Lewis acid mediated rearrangement of phenylthio‐substituted 1,2‐oxazines delivered glycosyl donor equivalents that can directly be employed in glycosidation reactions. Treatment with methanol provided internally protected amino sugar equivalents that have been transformed into the stereoisomeric methyl glycosides 28 , ent‐ 28 , 29 , ent‐ 29 and 34 in two simple reductive steps. Reaction with natural carbohydrates or bicyclic amino sugar precursors allowed the synthesis of homo‐oligomeric di‐ and trisaccharides 44 , 46 and 47 or a hybrid trisaccharide 51 with natural carbohydrates. Access to a bivalent amino sugar derivative 54 was accomplished by reaction of rearrangement product 10 with 1,5‐pentanediol. Alternatively, when a protected L ‐serine derivative was employed as glycosyl acceptor, the glycosylated amino acid 60 was efficiently prepared in few steps. In this report we describe the synthesis of unusual amino sugar building blocks from enantiopure 1,2‐oxazines that can be attached to natural carbohydrates or natural product aglycons to produce new natural product analogues with potential applications in medicinal chemistry.     

Ester dienolate [2,3]-Wittig rearrangement in natural product synthesis: diastereoselective total synthesis of the triester of viridiofungin A, A2, and A4

[structure: see text] An ester dienolate [2,3]-Wittig rearrangement was utilized to access the alkylated citric acid skeleton 6 that is characteristic for the viridiofungins and other members of the alkyl citrate family of secondary natural products. The [2,3]-sigmatropic rearrangement of (Z,Z)-15 provided the rearrangement product (+/-)-syn-16 in moderate yield and with very good diastereoselectivity. A Julia-Kocienski olefination efficiently served to connect the polar head (+/-)-syn-26 with the lipophilic tail (32a-c) of the viridiofungins. Amide formation between the racemic viridiofungin precursors 35a-c and the enantiomerically pure amino acid L-tyrosine methyl ester followed by preparative reversed-phase HPLC provided the isopropyl dimethyl ester of viridiofungin A ((+)-39a), A2 ((+)-39b), and A4 ((+)-39c) as well as the nonnatural diastereomers (-)-38a-c.     

Palladium-catalyzed annulation reactions for diastereoselective cyclopentene synthesis

Palladium-catalyzed annulation reactions of conjugate acceptors and allenyl boronic ester provide substituted cyclopentenes in high yields and, where applicable, diastereoselectivities. This method provides rapid assembly of building blocks for natural product synthesis, including polycyclic lactone and lactam products. Reactions are hypothesized to initiate by conjugate addition of a nucleophilic propargylpalladium complex.     

Unified synthesis of quinone sesquiterpenes based on a radical decarboxylation and quinone addition reaction

A unified synthesis of several quinone sesquiterpenes is described herein. Essential to this strategy is a novel radical addition reaction that permits the attachment of a fully substituted bicyclic core 16 to a variably substituted quinone 10. The addition product 15 can be further functionalized, giving access to natural products with a high degree of oxygenation at the quinone unit. The quinone addition reaction is characterized by excellent chemoselectivity, taking place only at conjugated and unsubstituted double bonds, and regioselectivity, being strongly influenced by the resonance effect of heteroatoms located on the quinone ring. These features were successfully applied to the synthesis of avarol (1), avarone (2), methoxyavarones (4, 5), ilimaquinone (6), and smenospongidine (7), thereby demonstating the synthetic value of this new method.     

Stereocontrolled Total Synthesis of (+)‐trans‐Dihydronarciclasine

A highly stereoselective and efficient total synthesis of trans‐dihydronarciclasine from a readily available chiral starting material was developed. The synthesis defines two of the five stereogenic centers of the natural product by an amino acid ester–enolate Claisen rearrangement. The other three stereogenic centers are created in a highly stereocontrolled fashion via a six‐ring vinylogous ester intermediate, which is generated from the γ,δ‐unsaturated ester functional group of the Claisen rearrangement product in an efficient three‐step sequence. This concise total synthesis exemplifies the use of a highly regioselective Friedel–Crafts‐type cyclization to form the B ring via an isocyanate intermediate derived from an N‐Boc group, which is superior to the conventional method using an imino triflate intermediate. This same N‐Boc group is employed to give high selectivity in the Claisen rearrangement earlier in the sequence.     

Expedient stereoselective synthesis of coronafacic acid through intramolecular Diels-Alder cyclization

A stereoselective synthesis of coronafacic acid, a natural component of the phytotoxin coronatin, was achieved using an intramolecular Diels-Alder reaction as the key step. The triene precursor bearing a substituted diene and a vinylketone as dienophile was synthesized and then tested in the thermal intramolecular cyclization. We have devised a new strategy to assemble the E,Z-diene through the stereoselective aldol reaction of an ester enolate followed by a stereoselective dehydration. Following the thermal cyclization, the corresponding hydrindanone thereby obtained with the desired relative stereochemistry could easily be converted into the natural product. The synthesis of the coronafacic acid was accomplished in six steps in 29% overall yield.     

4-Oxo-2-cyclopentenyl Acetate—A Synthetic Intermediate

The present day importance of cyclopentenone derivatives in preparative organic chemistry and especially in natural product chemistry is demonstrated by the stereoselective synthesis of substituted and annelated cyclopentanone derivatives. It has been found that 4-oxo-2-cyclopentenyl acetate (“4-acetoxy-2-cyclopenten-1-one”) can be used in many reactions as a substitute for cyclopentadienone, which is itself too unstable to be isolated. A large variety of polyfunctionalized cyclopentanone derivatives, as well as carbocyclic and heterocyclic annelation products, can thus be obtained in a simple way. Various stereoselective transformations of the adducts so formed are presented, using the total synthesis of brefeldin A—a typical natural product of this series—as example. Several methods for the synthesis of 4-oxo-2-cyclopentenyl acetate are outlined and, in addition, the more important methods for the enantioselective synthesis of other 4-substituted 2-cyclopenten-1-ones are discussed.     

Enantioselective total synthesis of isoedunol and beta-araneosene featuring unconventional strategy and methodology

A new synthetic strategy for the enantioselective synthesis of members of the dolabellane family of marine natural products has been demonstrated for the specific examples beta-araneosene and isoedunol (1 and 2, respectively) by the pathway outlined in Scheme 1. Key steps include (1) diastereoselective alkylation of Seebach's chiral lactate acetal (6) by the iodide derived from 5; (2) Kulinkovich ethylenation of ester 9 to form the cyclopropanol 10; (3) ring expansion of 10 to form 11; (4) pinacol cyclization of keto aldehyde 12 to form 13a; (5) rearrangement of 13b to 14; (6) propenylation of 14 to 2; and (7) reductive pi-transposition to form 1.     

Stereocontrolled Total Synthesis of (+)-trans-Dihydronarciclasine

A highly stereoselective and efficient total synthesis of trans-dihydronarciclasine from a readily available chiral starting material was developed. The synthesis defines two of the five stereogenic centers of the natural product by an amino acid ester-enolate Claisen rearrangement. The other three stereogenic centers are created in a highly stereocontrolled fashion via a six-ring vinylogous ester intermediate, which is generated from the γ,δ-unsaturated ester functional group of the Claisen rearrangement product in an efficient three-step sequence. This concise total synthesis exemplifies the use of a highly regioselective Friedel-Crafts-type cyclization to form the B ring via an isocyanate intermediate derived from an N-Boc group, which is superior to the conventional method using an imino triflate intermediate. This same N-Boc group is employed to give high selectivity in the Claisen rearrangement earlier in the sequence.     

An approach toward the total synthesis of subergorgic acid

Ireland–Claisen rearrangement of a substituted alkenyl cyclopentanecarboxylate provided a monocyclic isomer containing the proper stereochemistry for four of the five stereogenic centers in subergorgic acid. Efforts to construct the additional rings in the molecule were thwarted as a result of steric and other factors. The results provide insights regarding the Ireland–Claisen rearrangement in five-membered ring systems. The formation of spiro-compounds from sterically and stereoelectronically demanding systems as reported herein has the potential to serve as a general strategy for the synthesis of such sub-units in both natural and unnatural products.     

A novel rearrangement of 1-(2-aminoaryl)imidazoles

6-Ethyl-2,4-bis(1H-imidazol-1-yl)pyrimidin-5-amine was found to undergo a novel rearrangement in the presence of acetic anhydride. The structure of the rearrangement product was deduced using a combination of one- and two-dimensional nmr methods. Confirmation of the structure was obtained by unambiguous synthesis of a reduced analog and establishment of the identity of this material with material prepared by reduction of the rearrangement product. Examination of three related cases indicated that the rearrangement process is significant only when both positions adjacent to the aryl amino group are substituted.     

Synthesis of reported and revised structures of amathamide D and synthesis of convolutamine F, H and lutamide A, C

Total synthesis of the published structure of amathamide D is described. Methyl 2,3,4-tribromo-5-hydroxybenzoate was selected as starting compound because it is readily accessible via acid-mediated Grob fragmentation-aromatization reaction of 1,4,5,6-tetrabromo-7,7-dimethoxybicyclo[2.2.1]hept-5-en-2-one. The aforementioned ester was transformed into the reported structure of amathamide D through methylation of a hydroxyl group and conversion of the ester moiety to a β-aminoethyl side chain. The NMR data of the synthetic compound did not conform to the reported natural product structure possessing contiguously positioned β-aminoethyl side chain, a set of three adjacent bromines, and a methyl ether linkage on the phenyl ring. This prompted us to redefine the natural product structure by synthesizing a product whose spectral data exactly matched with the reported data of amathamide D. The convolutamine H, with completely substituted phenyl ring adorned with an extra methyl ether functional group, has also been synthesized by application of Grob fragmentation-aromatization strategy to 3-(benzyloxy)-1,4,5,6-tetrabromo-7,7-dimethoxybicyclo[2.2.1]hept-5-en-2-one. This approach furnished directly methyl 2,3,4-tribromo-5,6-dimethoxybenzoate, which was converted straightforwardly into convolutamine H. Further, synthesis of convolutamine F and lutamide A and C is also described.