Total synthesis of depsilairdin.

The total synthesis of depsilairdin, a host-selective phytotoxin isolated from Leptosphaeria maculans (the causal agent of blackleg disease of oilseed Brassicas), has been achieved by N-terminal extension of a suitably protected derivative of the hitherto unknown amino acid (2S,3S,4R)-3,4-dihydroxy-3-methyl-proline (Dhmp) followed by esterification with lairdinol A. The latter esterification, complicated by the sterically hindered nature of the carboxyl group, was accomplished by a novel method involving reaction of the 1-hydroxybenzotriazole (HOBt) derived active ester with the bromomagnesium alkoxide of lairdinol A. Three depsilairdin analogues were also prepared by replacing the Dhmp residue with L-proline and cis- and trans-4-hydroxy-L-proline. Phytotoxicity assays showed that the analogues were nontoxic to both blackleg-susceptible (brown mustard) and -resistant (canola) plants, suggesting that the presence of the Dhmp residue in depsilairdin is important for its host-selective toxicity toward brown mustard.

Enantiospecific total synthesis of lairdinol A.

The synthesis of lairdinol A, a component of the host-selective phytotoxin depsilairdin, was achieved in 12 steps (18% overall yield) without the use of protecting groups starting with the Diels-Alder reaction of (R)-carvone with 3-trimethylsilyloxy-1,3-pentadiene. The key step established the trans ring fusion by preferential epoxidation of a trans-fused enone in an equilibrating mixture of the cis-fused and trans-fused diastereomers (i.e., equivalent to a dynamic kinetic resolution of these isomers). The synthesis confirms the absolute configurations of lairdinol A and its enantiomer, cyperusol C.