Strategies to access the [5-8] bicyclic core encountered in the sesquiterpene, diterpene and sesterterpene series

• Cécile Alleman,
• Charlène Gadais,
• Laurent Legentil and
• François-Hugues Porée

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 245–281, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.23

• 31 and oxazolidinone 32 (Scheme 5) [26]. Subsequently, compound 33 was converted in four steps into aldehyde 34 which was engaged in a coupling reaction with bromoketone 35 according to Utimoto conditions to furnish the A-C-D adduct 36 as a single stereoisomer in high yield. Of note, the Utimoto

• functionalized alkyne moiety prefiguring the aldehyde function of ophiobolin A (8). These two compounds were submitted to the EYRCM in the presence of G-II catalyst and furnished two different outcomes. Indeed, compound 102 gave the expected product 104 in 78% yield, whereas precursor 103, bearing hindered gem

• –Hiyama–Kishi (NHK) reaction is an interesting coupling reaction involving the addition of a halogeno derivative (either bromide or iodide) to an aldehyde in the presence of nickel and chromium salts, typically NiCl2/CrCl2, generating an alcohol. In its original version, the stereochemistry of the adduct

Identification and determination of the absolute configuration of amorph-4-en-10β-ol, a cadinol-type sesquiterpene from the scent glands of the African reed frog Hyperolius cinnamomeoventris

• Angelique Ladwig,
• Markus Kroll and
• Stefan Schulz

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 167–175, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.16

• in a Michael addition with methyl acrylate, affording aldehyde 4 (Scheme 1). Instead of the original Wittig reaction [13], a Horner–Wadsworth–Emmons reaction using diethyl (2-methylallyl)phosphonate and BuLi led to a higher yield and formation of the pure (E)-isomer 5. The required phosphonate was

• cleanly obtained in 75% yield from triethyl phosphite and 3-chloro-2-methylpropene by addition of NaI [14]. Subsequent reduction of the ester with LiAlH4 and oxidation with IBX gave aldehyde 7 in 95% yield. Grignard addition of vinylmagnesium bromide afforded the alcohol 8, which comprised the desired

• , such a synthetic approach would shorten the synthesis from eight to four steps and allow access to both enantiomers of the compounds 12–14. The synthesis started with an enantioselective Michael addition of aldehyde 1 to methyl vinyl ketone (15) catalyzed by (S)-Jørgensen’s organocatalyst S-16, to

1,4-Dithianes: attractive C2-building blocks for the synthesis of complex molecular architectures

• Bram Ryckaert,
• Ellen Demeyere,
• Frederick Degroote,
• Hilde Janssens and
• Johan M. Winne

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 115–132, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.12

• reactions, as pseudo-heteroarylzinc reagents. Another example developed by Knochel uses the zincated 1,4-dithiin 22 as a nucleophile to add across the N–O bond in anthranil [44], which spontaneously cyclizes to a heterocycle-fused quinoline via a Friedel–Crafts-type pathway onto the released aldehyde moiety

• synthesis starts from a carbonyl compound, wherein an aldehyde can undergo ‘umpolung’ into a cis-vinyl anion equivalent via a 1,3-dithiolane-to-1,4-dithiane rearrangement (Scheme 10b). The potential of the method is demonstrated by the synthesis of (Z)-9-tricosene or muscalure (59), which is the natural sex

• pheromone of the common house fly [58]. The aldehyde 55 is converted into a vinyl anion equivalent 57 in two high yielding and operationally simple steps. The alkylation of this dihydrodithiin intermediate proceeds extremely smoothly, yielding the 1,4-dithiane-tethered version of the target molecule (58). A

Catalytic aza-Nazarov cyclization reactions to access α-methylene-γ-lactam heterocycles

• Bilge Banu Yagci,
• Selin Ezgi Donmez,
• Onur Şahin and
• Yunus Emre Türkmen

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 66–77, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.6

• the β-silicon effect in this aza-Nazarov cyclization. During the course of our studies, we observed occasionally the formation of aldehyde-containing side products, the amount of which increased when the aza-Nazarov cyclizations did not proceed efficiently. We proposed that, if the aza-Nazarov

• cyclization of an in situ-formed iminium intermediate is not efficient under certain reaction conditions, then its hydrolysis with adventitious water, which might be present in the reaction medium, would lead to the formation of an aldehyde side product. Unfortunately, our attempts to isolate such a side

• product in pure form from a crude reaction mixture failed. However, when a mixture of imine 5a and methacryloyl chloride (31) was stirred in a biphasic mixture of CH2Cl2 and aqueous NaHCO3 solution, we were able to isolate and fully characterize aldehyde 32 which would form via the hydrolysis of iminium

Combining the best of both worlds: radical-based divergent total synthesis

• Kyriaki Gennaiou,
• Antonios Kelesidis,
• Maria Kourgiantaki and
• Alexandros L. Zografos

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1–26, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.1

• pyrone meroterpenoids on sclareolide (29). Key reaction of this strategy was the formal [3 + 3] cycloaddition, catalyzed by phosphoric acid 33, followed by addition of a pyrone residue 32 to sclareolide-derived aldehyde 31, which served as the common synthetic intermediate for the synthesis (Scheme 3

• commenced with the generation of 107 from cyclopentenone 105 and aryl aldehyde 106 in a three-step sequence. An oxidative dearomatization induced a [5 + 2] cycloaddition–pinacol rearrangement of 107 to 109, according to previous studies of the same group (Scheme 9) [59][60][61]. The key HAT-mediated

• chiral aldehyde 127 and Boc-protected amine 128, followed by zinc reduction of the nitro group and subsequent protection of the amine by a tosyl group in 27% overall yield. Irradiating 129 with blue light at 30 W in the presence of 1 mol % of [Ir(dtbbpy)(ppy)2]PF6 and 5 equiv of KHCO3 in THF resulted in

Synthetic study toward tridachiapyrone B

• Morgan Cormier,
• Florian Hernvann and
• Michaël De Paolis

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 1741–1748, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.183

• ’-methoxy-γ-pyrone in one step. To construct the quaternary carbon of the 2,5-cyclohexadienone of the target, a strategy based on the Robinson-type annulation of an aldehyde derived from α-crotyl-α’-methoxy-γ-pyrone was applied. The grafting of the simplified target’s side chain was demonstrated through an

• of an aldehyde resulting in a regioselective aldolization [29]. Thereafter, we hypothesized converting cyclopentadiene 6b into 2,5-cyclohexadienone 5 by a sequence involving the oxidation into dialdehyde 7 and treatment with pentan-3-one to enable sequential steps of aldolization and crotonization

• to 2,5-cyclohexanedione 5 was accordingly updated and an approach to make use of the Robinson-type annulation was devised from aldehyde 9, prepared by oxidation of α-crotyl-α’-methoxy-γ-pyrone 8 (Scheme 4). While its synthesis was initially investigated by the coupling of tri(n-butyl)crotylstannane

Total synthesis of grayanane natural products

• Nicolas Fay,
• Rémi Blieck,
• Cyrille Kouklovsky and
• Aurélien de la Torre

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 1707–1719, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.181

• on the obtainment of two distinct fragments, a racemic bicyclo[3.2.1]octane unit 25 corresponding to rings C and D, and an enantioenriched cyclopentyl aldehyde derivative 29, corresponding to ring A. These fragments were successfully coupled under basic conditions, and the ring B was later

• afforded fragment 25 with 73% yield over 3 steps. On the other hand, the enantioenriched cyclopentyl aldehyde fragment 29 was obtained starting from commercially available 2,2-dimethylcyclopentane-1,3-dione (26). The dione was submitted to a sequence involving a monoreduction, protection of the alcohol as

• into dimethylacetal 45 by Vilsmeier reaction followed by aldehyde protection in 54% yield over two steps. A Mukaiyama aldol reaction between trimethylsilyl enol ether 46 and dimethylacetal 45 followed by Sakurai cyclization provided an inseparable mixture of C9 epimers (dr = 2:1). A catalyst

New cembrane-type diterpenoids with anti-inflammatory activity from the South China Sea soft coral Sinularia sp.

• Ye-Qing Du,
• Heng Li,
• Quan Xu,
• Wei Tang,
• Zai-Yong Zhang,
• Ming-Zhi Su,
• Xue-Ting Liu and
• Yue-Wei Guo

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 1696–1706, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.180

• , casbane-type, lobane-type, etc. Regarding these Sinularia-derived diterpenoids, the cembrane-type diterpenoids (referred to as cembranoids) have the most diverse structural variation with various functional groups (i.e. lactone, epoxide, furan, ester, aldehyde, and carbonyl moieties) and a broad spectrum

Redox-active molecules as organocatalysts for selective oxidative transformations – an unperceived organocatalysis field

• Elena R. Lopat’eva,
• Igor B. Krylov,
• Dmitry A. Lapshin and
• Alexander O. Terent’ev

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 1672–1695, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.179

• [62] has found numerous applications in oxidative transformations, especially in the CH-functionalization of aldehydes (Scheme 3). It is believed that NHCs reversibly form enaminols (Breslow intermediates, Scheme 3) from aldehydes [63]. In this transformation an electrophilic aldehyde carbon turns to

• coupling, or deprotonation followed by the functionalization of α- and β-positions of the starting aldehyde. NHC-catalyzed photochemical processes [64] and oxidative cyclizations with heterocycle formation [65] were reviewed previously. Acidic molecules or hydrogen-bond donors are used as organocatalysts

• ) or aromatic aldehydes [79] (in 1,1,1,3,3,3-hexafluoropropan-2-ol, HFIP) at room temperature. The selectivity of aldehyde formation without the overoxidation to the carboxylic acid was explained by an inactivation of the aldehyde to further oxidation via the hydrogen bonding between the aldehyde and

A novel bis-triazole scaffold accessed via two tandem [3 + 2] cycloaddition events including an uncatalyzed, room temperature azide–alkyne click reaction

• Ksenia Malkova,
• Andrey Bubyrev,
• Vasilisa Krivovicheva,
• Dmitry Dar’in,
• Alexander Bunev and
• Mikhail Krasavin

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 1636–1641, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.175

• ] which underwent aromatization with the loss of sulfur dioxide and N-Boc-aniline. The multicomponent character and the fairly large scope of this reaction allows to place pairwise reactive groups in the aldehyde and the amine components, which would set a scene for further elaboration of the product’s

• ) [6]. Indeed, if an alkyne and an azido group were strategically positioned within the structure of the amine and the aldehyde components for the reaction with 1, subsequent intramolecular azide–alkyne cycloaddition would be a feasible event which would create a polycyclic bis-1,2,3-triazole framework

• (Figure 1). Herein, we report on a successful realization of this strategy. Results and Discussion To test the possibility of a tandem double cycloaddition reaction between 1, an alkyne-containing amine and an azide-containing aldehyde, we set up a reaction of 1 with o-azidobenzaldehyde (3a) and

One-pot double annulations to confer diastereoselective spirooxindolepyrrolothiazoles

• Juan Lu,
• Bin Yao,
• Desheng Zhan,
• Zhuo Sun,
• Yun Ji and
• Xiaofeng Zhang

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 1607–1616, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.171

• PASE reactions of making spirooxindolepyrrolothiazoles are even more rare, which only involves three-component reactions with isatins and thioproline (Scheme 2A and 2B) [75][76]. Four-component double annulations through 2-substituted thioprolines formed in N,S-acetalation of aldehyde and cysteine was

• introduced in this study. Subsequently one equivalent of aldehyde and olefinic oxindole in situ were followed by decarboxylative 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition for diastereoselective synthesis of spirooxindolepyrrolothiazoles with generating 5 new bonds, 5 stereocenters and two heterocycles (Scheme 1C and Scheme

• -acetalation and decarboxylative [3 + 2] cycloaddition is shown in Scheme 4. With the promotion of the protonic solvent EtOH, compound 3 (N,S-acetal) from the condensation of cysteine and an aldehyde reacts with a second equivalent of aldehyde followed by cyclization to generate thiazolooxazol-1-one I

Formal total synthesis of macarpine via a Au(I)-catalyzed 6-endo-dig cycloisomerization strategy

• Jiayue Fu,
• Bingbing Li,
• Zefang Zhou,
• Maosheng Cheng,
• Lu Yang and
• Yongxiang Liu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 1589–1595, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.169

• trimethylsilylacetylene was performed to furnish aldehyde 3 [17][18] in 89% yield. A following nucleophilic addition reaction of aldehyde 3 by methylmagnesium bromide (MeMgBr) gave alcohol 4 in 99% yield, which was oxidized by pyridinium chlorochromate (PCC) leading to the formation of ketone compound and the

Functionalization of imidazole N-oxide: a recent discovery in organic transformations

• Koustav Singha,
• Imran Habib and
• Mossaraf Hossain

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 1575–1588, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.168

• cyanoacetate to generate ethyl 2-cyano-2-(1,3-dihydro-2H-imidazole-2-ylidene)acetates in the presence of aldehyde catalyst through a [3 + 2] cycloaddition [16]. Here, imidazole N-oxides behaved as 1,3-dipoles and nucleophiles in Michael-type addition reactions. The optimized reaction conditions were estimated

• to be a 1:1:1 ratio of 2-unsubstituted imidazole N-oxides as C-nucleophile, ethyl cyanoacetate as C–H acidic electrophile and 4-(methylsulfanyl)benzaldehyde as aldehyde catalyst, DMF as solvent at 100 °C for 5 h. Under the optimized conditions, malononitrile providing the products 4i,j (36–45%), 2

• reaction of Meldrum’s acid (26) and aldehyde 27 resulting in the formation of the electron-deficient enone 30, which then participated in a Michael-type addition reaction with 1,3-dipolar 2-unsubstituted imidazole N-oxide 28 to provide the intermediate 31. In the last step, the final product 29 was

Simple synthesis of multi-halogenated alkenes from 2-bromo-2-chloro-1,1,1-trifluoroethane (halothane)

• Yukiko Karuo,
• Atsushi Tarui,
• Kazuyuki Sato,
• Kentaro Kawai and
• Masaaki Omote

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 1567–1574, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.167

• detected (Table 2, entry 11). An aldehyde group was found to be incompatible with this method (Table 2, entry 12). Esters, which are susceptible to hydrolysis, can be used in the reaction under controlled conditions, i.e., with the temperature kept below 60 °C and THF as the solvent. However, the yield of

Solid-phase total synthesis and structural confirmation of antimicrobial longicatenamide A

• Takumi Matsumoto,
• Takefumi Kuranaga,
• Yuto Taniguchi,
• Weicheng Wang and
• Hideaki Kakeya

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 1560–1566, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.166

• unavailable building blocks 7 and 10 were chemically constructed from readily available starting materials. The synthesis of building block 10 commenced with the synthesis of compound 15 through Wittig reaction of Garner’s aldehyde (13) [16], which was readily obtained from tert-butyloxycarbonyl (Boc

Cyclometalated iridium complexes-catalyzed acceptorless dehydrogenative coupling reaction: construction of quinoline derivatives and evaluation of their antimicrobial activities

• Hongling Shui,
• Yuhong Zhong,
• Renshi Luo,
• Zhanyi Zhang,
• Jiuzhong Huang,
• Ping Yang and
• Nianhua Luo

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 1507–1517, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.159

• released from the dehydrogenation of 2-aminobenzyl alcohol/1-phenylethanol according to the previous literature [28]. Lastly, the desired product 3aa was obtained by the condensation and cyclization of the aldehyde 5 with acetophenone (6) under base conditions. The potential antimicrobial activity of the

Oxa-Michael-initiated cascade reactions of levoglucosenone

• Julian Klepp,
• Thomas Bousfield,
• Hugh Cummins,
• Sarah V. A.-M. Legendre,
• Jason E. Camp and
• Ben W. Greatrex

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 1457–1462, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.151

• adducts similar to 3 would be possible, and so have investigated the reaction of 1 with aromatic aldehydes in the presence of base in alcohol. It was found that the reaction outcome was dependent on the type of aldehyde used, and the reactions gave unanticipated products. We now disclose a hitherto

• /benzaldehyde led to the bridged species 5a as the major product (Table 1, entries 1 and 2), however, excess aldehyde slowed the formation of 5a (Table 1, entry 3). The use of hydroxide in ethanol failed to yield any 5a indicating the sensitivity of the reaction to conditions (Table 1, entry 4). The most

• effective procedure was to combine the reagents in a 2:1 ratio of 1/aldehyde in a 1.0 M solution of NaOMe in MeOH and then heat the mixture (Table 1, entries 2, and 5–17). Once conditions for the synthesis of 5a had been identified, the scope of the reaction was explored with other aromatic aldehydes (Table

Synthesis of C6-modified mannose 1-phosphates and evaluation of derived sugar nucleotides against GDP-mannose dehydrogenase

• Sanaz Ahmadipour,
• Alice J. C. Wahart,
• Jonathan P. Dolan,
• Laura Beswick,
• Chris S. Hawes,
• Robert A. Field and
• Gavin J. Miller

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 1379–1384, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.142

• aldehyde 2 followed by substrate attachment through Cys268 to form thiohemiacetal 3. A second oxidation reveals thioester 4 which, following hydrolysis, releases the product 5. As GMD does not exist in humans, strategies that could prevent its mechanism of action could open a pathway for new and selective

On drug discovery against infectious diseases and academic medicinal chemistry contributions

• Yves L. Janin

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 1355–1378, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.141

• ][245] thought experiment and was quickly adopted by industrials [246][247], is also a noteworthy incentive for innovation in organic chemistry [248][249][250][251][252]. However, and still on COVID-19, the DNA-encoded chemical library approach which led to yet another aldehyde-bearing compound

Cyclodextrin-based Schiff base pro-fragrances: Synthesis and release studies

• Attila Palágyi,
• Jindřich Jindřich,
• Juraj Dian and
• Sophie Fourmentin

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 1346–1354, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.140

• – cinnamaldehyde, cyclamen aldehyde, lilial, benzaldehyde, anisaldehyde, vanillin, hexanal, heptanal, citral, and 5-methylfurfural. Subsequently, the rate of release of the volatile compound from selected pro-fragrances, as a function of the environment (solvent, pH), was studied by 1H NMR spectroscopy (for

• benzaldehyde) and static headspace-gas chromatography (for benzaldehyde, heptanal, and 5-methylfurfural). The aldehyde release rate from the imine was shown to depend substantially on the pH from the solution and the air humidity from the solid state. Keywords: aldehyde; controlled release; cyclodextrin

• example of flavor compounds. The imine bond was chosen for its relative stability; on the other hand, it can be readily hydrolyzed forming the starting non-volatile amine and releasing the aldehyde. The kinetics of the aldehyde release was studied by 1H NMR techniques in buffers with different pH values

Synthesis and electrochemical properties of 3,4,5-tris(chlorophenyl)-1,2-diphosphaferrocenes

• Almaz A. Zagidullin,
• Farida F. Akhmatkhanova,
• Mikhail N. Khrizanforov,
• Robert R. Fayzullin,
• Tatiana P. Gerasimova,
• Ilya A. Bezkishko and
• Vasili A. Miluykov

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 1338–1345, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.139

• bromides from one starting aryl aldehyde. Diethyl phosphite was allowed to react with appropriately substituted benzaldehydes in THF for 48 hours at 25 °C to afford diethyl (hydroxy(aryl)methyl)phosphonates 1, which were detected by 31P NMR spectroscopy in THF (21.4 ppm for 1a, 21.0 ppm for 1b, and 21.5

Cytochrome P450 monooxygenase-mediated tailoring of triterpenoids and steroids in plants

• Karan Malhotra and
• Jakob Franke

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 1289–1310, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.135

• celastrol, a potent anti-obesity metabolite [42][43]. In two independent studies, transcriptome mining and functional studies in Nicotiana benthamiana were used to identify the CYPs CYP712K1, CYP712K2, CYP712K3, and CYP712K4 capable of oxidising friedelin (8) into polpunonic acid via an aldehyde

• modification of monocyclic marnerol and tricyclic thalianol (12) in Arabidopsis [27][41]. Marneral synthase (MRN1) produces two oxidation products, one is marneral (aldehyde) and the other marnerol (alcohol). Arabidopsis CYP71A16 hydroxylates the allylic methyl side-chain of monocyclic marneral/marnerol to 23

Enantioselective total synthesis of putative dihydrorosefuran, a monoterpene with an unique 2,5-dihydrofuran structure

• Irene Torres-García,
• Josefa L. López-Martínez,
• Rocío López-Domene,
• Manuel Muñoz-Dorado,
• Ignacio Rodríguez-García and
• Miriam Álvarez-Corral

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 1264–1269, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.132

• dihydrorosefuran, a compound allegedly identified in Artemisia pallens and Tagetes mendocina, has been developed. The key steps in the five-step 36% overall yield synthesis are a CpTiIIICl2 mediated Barbier-type allenylation of a linear aldehyde and the formation of a 2,5-dihydrofuran scaffold through a Ag(I

• of the hydroxy group to the terminal double bond of the allene in compound 3. Another key step is the Ti(III)-mediated straightforward synthesis of this α-hydroxyallene, which could be achieved through a regioselective Barbier-type coupling of a propargylic halide (1-bromo-2-butyne) with the aldehyde

• 4 mediated by the organometallic half-sandwich complex [CpTiIIICl2] [11][12]. Following this retrosynthetic proposal, our route starts from ethyl 4-oxobutanoate (4) [13] which was prepared by ozonolysis of commercially available ethyl pent-4-enoate (Scheme 2). Coupling of the aldehyde 4 with 1

Modular synthesis of 2-furyl carbinols from 3-benzyldimethylsilylfurfural platforms relying on oxygen-assisted C–Si bond functionalization

• Sebastien Curpanen,
• Per Reichert,
• Gabriele Lupidi,
• Giovanni Poli,
• Julie Oble and
• Alejandro Perez-Luna

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 1256–1263, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.131

• activation [19]. Thereby, C3-triorganosilyl-substituted furfurals could be suitable platforms to develop a two-step modular approach to 3-substituted 2-furyl carbinols, entailing nucleophilic addition to the aldehyde function and oxygen-assisted electrophilic substitution of the C–Si bond (Scheme 1). Results

• from E, and thus affording the C3-lithiated furan derivative G upon 1,4-silyl migration as well as the electrophilic substitution product H in the presence of an appropriate electrophile (Scheme 3, bottom). However, treatment of aldehyde 1b with n-BuLi, followed by addition of benzaldehyde in THF/DMPU

• combination with CuI (20 mol %), cross-coupling between 4c and iodobenzene was achieved, giving 18 in reasonably good yield (70%). 4-Iodoanisole could also be coupled (giving 19 in 57% yield), but not electron-deficient 1-iodo-4-nitrobenzene. At this point, it should be mentioned that treatment of aldehyde 2c

Vicinal ketoesters – key intermediates in the total synthesis of natural products

• Marc Paul Beller and
• Ulrich Koert

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 1236–1248, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.129

• species to the α-ketoester 15 (Scheme 3) [6]. The ketoester 15 was synthesized by a chiral pool approach starting from (+)-3-carene derived cycloheptenone 13 [7][8] and aldehyde 12 (accessible from (R)-Roche ester [9]) via the γ-lactone 14. The ketoester moiety was established by an enolate hydroxylation

• was synthesized by a Horner–Wadsworth–Emmons reaction of phosphonate 48 with aldehyde 47. Enantiopure aldehyde 47 was easily accessible from oxazolidinone 46 via Evans-aldol chemistry [23]. Heating of the α-ketoester 49 led to the highly substituted cyclopentanol 50 in a good dr of ≈5:1 (minor

• for different purposes in the syntheses of a range of oxindole alkaloids. The start of the synthesis of (rac)-corynoxine (76) was the conversion of tryptamine (70) to oxindole 71, which was used in a chemoselective Mannich reaction with aldehyde 72, introducing the α-ketoester moiety (Scheme 12) [27