The first chemoenzymatic total synthesis of the phytotoxic nonenolide putaminoxin and its (5S,6E,9S)-diastereomer

The limitations of an alcohol dehydrogenase regarding the oxidative kinetic resolution of homoallylic alcohol containing alkyl chains were investigated, leading to a valuable building block for the total synthesis of phytotoxic nonenolide putaminoxin. The enzymatic approach towards the enantioenriched homoallylic alcohol was compared to classical, nonenzymatic approaches using asymmetric reagent controlled allyl additions and the obtained building block was used for the total synthesis of putaminoxin and its (5S,6E,9S)-diastereomer. After the spectroscopic analysis of the synthesized compounds, discrepancies were observed to already published data of isolated and synthesized putaminoxin. Therefore, a systematic comparison of NMR data was carried out. The result underlines the necessity of total synthesis for the absolute assignment of configuration.