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Free keywords:
1,3-dienes, alkynes, macrocycles, natural products, trans-hydrostannation
Abstract:
The new approach to the anticancer agent rhizoxin D described herein does not cohere with the conventional logic of metathesis, according to which macrocycles are best closed at a disubstituted olefinic site; rather, the trisubstituted C11−C12 alkene flanked by an allylic ‐OH group served as the pivot point for synthesis. This motif was attained in good yield and excellent selectivity by a sequence of alkyne metathesis, trans‐hydrostannation and cross coupling. Because the exact same substructure is prominently featured in numerous other natural products, the underpinning strategy, though unusual, might bear more general relevance.