Towards the real didemnaketal A: total syntheses of two C-21 stereoisomers of the proposed didemnaketal A

Two isomers (3 and 4) with a configuration at C-21 opposite to that proposed for didemnaketal A were synthesized through a process in which the longest linear sequence involved 29 steps. Comparative NMR analysis of these isomers and natural didemnaketal A suggests the possibility of misassignments at other stereocenters in the proposed structure of didemnaketal A.