Formal enantioselective synthesis of nhatrangin A.

A new and straightforward synthesis of the C1-C7 core fragment of nhatrangin A was achieved in 14 steps from achiral 3-hydroxybenzaldehyde, without the need of chiral reagents or enzymatic resolution to introduce the chiral centers. The key asymmetric steps include in particular a highly enantioselective organocatalyzed Michael addition on an aryl vinyl ketone, a Sharpless asymmetric epoxidation and a subsequent regioselective ring opening of the resulting chiral epoxide. This work represents the first formal enantioselective synthesis of nhatrangin A.

Alkenes as Chelating Groups in Diastereoselective Additions of Organometallics to Ketones.

Alkenes have been discovered to be chelating groups to Zn(II), enforcing highly stereoselective additions of organozincs to ß,γ-unsaturated ketones. 1H NMR studies and DFT calculations provide support for this surprising chelation mode. The results expand the range of coordinating groups for chelation-controlled carbonyl additions from heteroatom Lewis bases to simple C-C double bonds, broadening the 60 year old paradigm.

Palladium-catalyzed α-arylation of benzylic phosphonates.

A new synthetic route to access diarylmethyl phosphonates is presented. The transformation enables the introduction of aromatic groups on benzylic phosphonates via a deprotonative cross-coupling process (DCCP). The Pd(OAc)2/CataCXium A-based catalyst afforded a reaction between benzyl diisopropyl phosphonate derivatives and aryl bromides in good to excellent isolated yields (64-92%).

Chelation-controlled additions to α-silyloxy aldehydes: an autocatalytic approach.

The Felkin-Anh model has been widely accepted to describe stereochemical outcomes in nucleophilic additions to α-silyloxy carbonyl compounds. Herein, it is demonstrated that chelation-controlled additions can be performed using dialkylzinc reagents in the presence of chlorotrimethylsilane with good to excellent diastereoselectivities. Ethyl zinc chloride, the Lewis acid responsible for promoting chelation, is generated in situ in an autocatalytic fashion. This approach circumvents its use in stoichiometric amounts.

Application of the diastereoselective photodeconjugation of α,ß-unsaturated esters to the synthesis of gymnastatin H.

The asymmetric synthesis of gymnastatin H has been achieved by using the photoisomerisation of a conjugated ester to its ß,γ-unsaturated isomer through the protonation of a in situ generated dienol as key step. Thanks to diacetone D-glucose used as a chiral alkoxy group, the protonation occurred well onto one of the two diastereotopic faces with very high yields and selectivities. Moreover, by this way the configuration of the C-6 centre of the target molecule was controlled.