Construction of tricyclic enone, a common precursor for aphidicolane and stemodane B/C/D-ring system.

Synthesis of a tricyclic enone (B/C/D ring system), a common key precursor for the aphidicolane- and stemodane-type diterpene, is described. The key reaction for the construction of the quaternary carbon center is allylation of epoxide at the more substituted carbon with an organotitanium reagent. Asymmetric reduction with DIP-Cl followed by stereoselective cyclization of spirocyclic ketone and the functional group modification gave the desired tricyclic enone in good yield.

Radical cyclization by ipso substitution of the methoxy group: considerable effect of HMPA on samarium-mediated cyclization.

Alkyl radicals generated by treatment of thiocarbamates of conformationally favorable 3-alkyl-3-arylpropan-1-ols with tris(trimethylsilyl)silane and AIBN efficiently undergo intramolecular ipso substitution of the methoxy group, yielding the corresponding cyclized products. In contrast, either conformationally favorable or flexible 1-arylalkan-3- or 4-ones easily cyclize into five- or six-membered condensed rings by treatment with SmI(2) via ketyl radical intermediates. The addition of HMPA as cosolvent dramatically changes the cyclization mode of the SmI(2)-induced reaction, and the para-cyclization products are exclusively formed. This "HMPA effect" can be rationalized by the strong chelating ability of HMPA with the samarium atom.

Total synthesis of the antitumor acetogenin mosin B: desymmetrization approach to the stereodivergent synthesis of threo/trans/erythro-type acetogenins.

A total synthesis of the threo/trans/erythro-type acetogenin mosin B and one of its diastereomers has been achieved. The carbon skeleton is assembled in a convergent fashion from two segments (a THF ring segment and a gamma-lactone segment) through the Nozaki-Hiyama-Kishi reaction. The THF ring segment was stereoselectively constructed by a stereodivergent synthesis starting from a common intermediate (4-cyclohexene-1,2-diol) based on a desymmetrization strategy. The gamma-lactone segment was synthesized by coupling a triflate and a chiral alpha-sulfenyl gamma-lactone. By virtue of these synthetic results, we suggest that the absolute configuration of natural mosin B is 1 a. Antiproliferative effects of 1 a and 1 b were also investigated.