Enantioselective synthesis of (-)-roccellaric acid

[reaction in text] A new strategy for the synthesis of anti-4,5-disubstituted gamma-butyrolactones starting from inexpensive furan-2-carboxylic methyl ester was developed. By applying this methodology, the enantioselective synthesis of (-)-roccellaric acid ((-)-17) was accomplished using a copper(I)-catalyzed asymmetric cyclopropanation, a tin(IV)-catalyzed retroaldol/lactonization sequence of cyclopropanols, and a ruthenium-catalyzed intermolecular metathesis reaction as key steps.