The aldol reaction is one of the most powerful and versatile
methods in polyketide synthesis. Nevertheless, the subtle directing
effects remain very often obscure and impede complex natural products
syntheses. Here, we report studies on the pivotal aldol coupling
employed in the spirangien synthesis. We identified conditions for
the stereoselective formation of both stereoisomers in the C22-C23
aldol juncture of spirangien.
aldol reaction - methyl ketone - natural products - 1,4-induction - Felkin product - Cornforth
model