Total synthesis of ent-(−)-azonazine using a biomimetic direct oxidative cyclization and structural reassignment of natural product

A biomimetic approach has been investigated and developed for the total synthesis of azonazine, an unusual marine natural cyclopeptide containing a rigid transannular 10-membered ring. A hypervalent iodine-mediated direct oxidative cyclization was successfully developed and applied to construct the highly strained core, which was the key step in the first total synthesis of ent-(−)-azonazine. Based on the physical evidences of synthesized diastereomer and enantiomer of azonazine, both the relative and absolute configurations of the natural product were revised. Two fluorinated azonazine derivatives were also synthesized in short convenient steps utilizing the same intermediate in this work. The established total synthesis opens a potential opportunity to study the structure–activity relationship of natural azonazine.