Toward the natural didemnaketal A: total synthesis of the isomer of didemnaketal A

The total synthesis of isomer of didemnaketal A was achieved in 26 steps. The position of esters is switched at C7 and C8 with respect to their proposed position in natural didemnaketal A, which shows potent anti-HIV activity but so far has not been synthesized in the laboratory. Structural analysis of synthetic isomer of didemnaketal A indicates that the esters at C7 and C8 are correctly assigned, suggesting that the problems for the structural reassignment of natural didemnaketal A lie elsewhere.