A broad‐spectrum synthesis of Tetravinylethylenes

The first general synthesis of compounds of the tetravinylethylene (TVE) family is reported. Ramirez‐type dibromo‐olefination of readily accessible penta‐1,4‐dien‐3‐ones generates 3,3‐dibromo[3]dendralenes, which undergo twofold Negishi, Suzuki–Miyaura or Mizoroki–Heck reactions with a wide variety of olefinic coupling partners. This route delivers a broad range of unsymmetrically substituted tetravinylethylenes with up to three different alkenyl substituents attached to the central C=C bond. The extensive scope of the approach is demonstrated by the preparation of the first higher order oligo‐alkenic through‐conjugated/cross‐conjugated hybrid compounds. An unsymmetrically substituted TVE is shown to undergo a domino electrocyclization–cycloaddition with high site‐selectivity and diastereoselectivity, thereby demonstrating the substantial synthetic potential of substituted TVEs for controlled, rapid structural complexity generation.This work was supported by the Australian Research Counci

Total Synthesis of Incarviditone and Incarvilleatone

The total synthesis of the racemic natural products (±)- incarviditone and (±)-incarvilleatone has been accomplished in three steps via biomimetic dimerization of (±)-rengyolone. Homochiral dimerization of (±)-rengyolone affords (±)-incarviditone th

Preparation of an ion with the highest calculated proton affinity: ortho-diethynylbenzene dianion

Owing to the increased proton affinity that results from additional negative charges, multiply-charged anions have been proposed as one route to prepare and access a range of new and powerful superbases . Paradoxically, while the additional electrons in polyanions increase basicity they serve to diminish the electron binding energy and thus, it had been thought, hinder experimental synthesis. We report the synthesis and isolation of the ortho-diethynylbenzene dianion (ortho-DEB2−) and present observations of this novel species undergoing gas-phase proton-abstraction reactions. Using a theoretical model based on Marcus-Hush theory, we attribute the stability of ortho-DEB2− to the presence of a barrier that prevents spontaneous electron detachment. The proton affinity of 1843 kJ mol−1 calculated for this dianion superbase using high-level quantum chemistry calculations significantly exceeds that of the lithium monoxide anion, the most basic system previously prepared. The ortho-diethynylbenzene dianion is therefore the strongest base that has been experimentally observed to date

Pseudopterosin synthesis from a chiral cross-conjugated hydrocarbon through a series of cycloadditions

The pseudopterosins are a family of diterpene marine natural products, which, by virtue of their interesting anti-inflammatory and analgesic properties, have attracted the attentions of many synthetic chemists. The most efficient syntheses reported to date are 14 and 20 steps in the longest linear sequence for chiral pool and enantioselective approaches, respectively, and all start with precursors that are easily mapped onto the natural product structure. Here, we describe an unconventional approach in which a chiral cross-conjugated hydrocarbon is used as the starting material for a series of three cycloadditions. Our approach has led to a significant reduction in the step count required to access these interesting natural products (10 steps chiral pool and 11 steps enantioselective). Furthermore it demonstrates that cross-conjugated hydrocarbons, erroneously considered by many to be too unstable and difficult to handle, are viable precursors for natural product synthesis

Unified total synthesis of the natural products endiandric acid A, kingianic acid E, and kingianins A, D, and F

A measure of the strength of a synthetic strategy is its versatility: specifically, whether it allows structurally distinct targets to be prepared. Herein we disclose a unified approach for the total synthesis of natural products of three distinct structural types, all of which occur naturally as racemic mixtures. The point of divergence involves the terminal alkylation of a conjugated tetrayne, and culminates in a significantly shortened synthesis of endiandric acid A (8 steps), the first total synthesis of kingianic acid E (8 steps), and a second-generation synthesis of kingianins A, D, and F (11 steps). Evidence for redox catalysis in the biosynthesis of kingianic acid E is presented.This work was supported by the Australian Research Council. S.L.D. gratefully acknowledges financial support from the Rickards family through the Rodney Rickards Scholarship

On the origin of cis/trans stereoselectivity in intramolecular Diels-Alder reactions of substituted pentadienyl acrylates: A comprehensive density functional study

A gas-phase B3LYP/6-31+G(d) study of substituent effects on the stereochemistry of both intramolecular Diels-Alder UMDA) reactions of 9-E- and 9-Z-substituted pentadienyl acrylates and intermolecular Diels-Alder (DA) reactions between butadiene and monosubstituted alkenes and 3-substituted acrylates is reported and involves the calculation of 230 transition structures. It was found that, although exo ("anti-Alder") addition of monosubstituted ethenes to butadiene is the norm, Alder endo selectivity is more widely predicted for 3-substituted methyl acrylate dienophiles, and this was explained in terms of secondary orbital interactions (SOIs). Whereas cis/trans selectivity for IMDA reactions involving 9-E-substituted pentadienyl acrylates generally follows the normal pattern found for the corresponding intermolecular DA reactions, the 9-Z-substituted stereoisomers generally displayed trans selectivity that was much stronger than can be attributed to effects of the isolated substituent. This is strikingly so with unsaturated electron-withdrawing substituents whose endo selectivities, displayed in intermolecular DA reactions, are reversed in the IMDA reactions of pentadienyl acrylates. The origin of this anomalous Z-effect is explained in terms of the twist-mode asynchronicity concept of Brown and Houk. These ideas are used to explain the stereochemical outcomes of IMDA reactions of other triene systems

Short Synthesis of 3‑(Hydroxymethyl)xylitol and Structure Revision of the Anti-diabetic Natural Product from <i>Casearia esculenta</i>

3-(Hydroxymethyl)xylitol, a compound reportedly isolated from the root of <i>Casearia esculenta</i> (Roxb.), along with its three possible stereoisomers, has been synthesized for the first time by way of a triple dihydroxylation reaction performed upon the simplest cross-conjugated hydrocarbon, [3]dendralene. The data for the natural product do not match any of the isomeric 3-(hydroxymethyl)pentitols. The structure of the natural product from the root of <i>Casearia esculenta</i> (Roxb.) has been corrected by reanalysis of the published data