Development of an enolate alkynylation approach towards the synthesis of the taiwanschirin natural products.

Through the use of model studies, an approach was conceived towards the synthesis of the taiwanschirin family of natural products. These are structurally complex compounds which represent highly challenging and biologically active targets for total synthesis. This work describes a successful synthesis of the complex taiwanschirin fused [8,6,5] core through a novel alkynylation reaction coupled with an intramolecular Heck reaction used to construct the 8-membered ring.

Asymmetric Total Synthesis of (-)-(3 R)-Inthomycin C.

A short (10 step) and efficient (15% overall yield) synthesis of the natural product (-)-(3 R)-inthomycin C is reported. The key steps comprise three C-C bond-forming reactions: (i) a vinylogous Mukaiyama aldol, (ii) an olefin cross-metathesis reaction, and (iii) an asymmetric Mukaiyama-Kiyooka aldol. This route is notable for its brevity and has the advantage of lacking stoichiometric tin-promoted cross-coupling reactions present in previous approaches. Initial investigations on the biological activity of (-)-(3 R)-inthomycin C and structural analogues on human cancer cell lines are also described for the first time.

Palladium(II)-catalysed ortho-arylation of N-benzylpiperidines.

Pd(II)-catalysed ortho-arylation of benzylic heterocycles with arylboronic acid pinacol esters (Ar-BPin) via directed C-H bond activation to generate the desired biaryl products is reported. This methodology is efficient and applicable to a wide range of functionalised Ar-BPin and benzylic heterocycles, allowing the direct synthesis of important biaryl motifs in modest to good yield.