Progress towards the stereoselective formal synthesis of (-)-apicularen A is described. The convergent approach involves the assembly of aliphatic and aromatic fragments via Grubbs’s cross metathesis. Other key reactions in the strategy include Sharpless asymmetric epoxidation, Evans’s protocol for the generation of syn 1,3-diol systems and stereoselective reduction.
apicularen A - antitumor - Grubbs’s cross metathesis - Evans’s protocol