
Dedicated to Professor Scott Denmark on the occasion of his 65th birthday.
Published as part of the Special Section dedicated to Scott E. Denmark on the occasion of his 65th birthday.
Abstract
The catalytic desymmetrization of anhydrides with zinc reagents provides access to deoxypolypropionate and polypropionate synthons. A synthesis of ionomycin was pursued in which three of the four fragments were assembled using this methodology. Two of the strategies (enol silane/oxocarbenium coupling and reductive cyclization) were not successful at installing the C23 stereocenter, but this stereochemical issue was overcome through a reduction/SN2 approach. In addition to the synthesis of a protected diastereomer of ionomycin, the synthesis of a C17–C32 fragment constitutes a formal total synthesis.
Key words
total synthesis - rhodium - enantioselective synthesis - anhydride desymmetrization - diastereoselectivity