The ethoxycarbonyl group as both activating and protective group in N-acyl-Pictet–Spengler reactions using methoxystyrenes. A short approach to racemic 1-benzyltetrahydroisoquinoline alkaloids

• Marco Keller,
• Karl Sauvageot-Witzku,
• Franz Geisslinger,
• Nicole Urban,
• Michael Schaefer,
• Karin Bartel and
• Franz Bracher

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 2716–2725, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.183

• relationships in this chemotype. Keywords: acyl Pictet–Spengler reaction; alkaloids; antiproliferative activity; benzyltetrahydroisoquinolines; ion channels; protective group; total synthesis; Introduction The benzylisoquinoline alkaloids are a large and diverse class of plant secondary metabolites including

• by lithium alanate reduction [18][19]. In a novel total synthesis of the racemic alkaloid N-methylcoclaurine (1) performed in this course we also used the ethoxycarbonyl group successfully for protection of two phenolic groups at two different rings during the N-acyl-Pictet–Spengler reaction [15

Synthesis of highly substituted fluorenones via metal-free TBHP-promoted oxidative cyclization of 2-(aminomethyl)biphenyls. Application to the total synthesis of nobilone

• Ilya A. P. Jourjine,
• Lukas Zeisel,
• Jürgen Krauß and
• Franz Bracher

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 2668–2679, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.181

• groups for phenols) and was further utilized in the first total synthesis of the natural product nobilone. Keywords: cross-dehydrogenative coupling; cyclization; fluorenones; nobilone; total synthesis; Introduction Fluorenones are an important class of aromatic natural products, and since the

• activated derivatives (intramolecular Friedel–Crafts acylation) [29][30][31] found wide application here. In a different approach, a total synthesis of dengibsin (1a) was accomplished by Wang and Snieckus in 15 steps by means of a directed remote metalation [32], using a benzamide residue as the directing

• -radical reagents [62]. An extremely poor yield was further obtained with methylenedioxy substrate 15p. Our application of this new protocol to the first total synthesis of the natural product nobilone (1d) is depicted in Scheme 7. The commercially available phenol 16 was TBS-protected to give compound 17

Recent advances in organocatalytic asymmetric aza-Michael reactions of amines and amides

• Pratibha Sharma,
• Raakhi Gupta and
• Raj K. Bansal

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 2585–2610, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.173

• tertiary amine-thiourea catalyst (cat. 82). This cascade reaction afforded aza-Michael adducts in 77–92% yields with high ee (up to 90%) (Table 19) [55]. Du et al. developed an enantioselective catalytic tandem aminolysis/aza-Michael addition for the asymmetric total synthesis of two natural Apocynaceae

α-Ketol and α-iminol rearrangements in synthetic organic and biosynthetic reactions

• Scott Benz and
• Andrew S. Murkin

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 2570–2584, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.172

• , tandem reactions, and the total synthesis and biosynthesis of natural products. This review explores the use of α-ketol rearrangements in these contexts over the past two decades. Keywords: acyloin rearrangement; asymmetric synthesis; iminol rearrangement; ketol rearrangement; tandem reactions

• reactions through mid-2002 have been thoroughly discussed in a past review by Paquette [1]. The current review expands on that work by providing an updated account from mid-2002 through early 2021, including the following recently developed applications: asymmetric synthesis, total synthesis, tandem

• 1,4-dioxane with a single drop of water. α-Ketol rearrangements implemented in total syntheses Although rare, α-ketol rearrangements have been included in the total syntheses of some natural products with high success. In the first total synthesis of periconianone A (31), an α-ketol rearrangement was

Strategies for the synthesis of brevipolides

• Yudhi D. Kurniawan and
• A'liyatur Rosyidah

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 2399–2416, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.157

• brevipolide H (8) Two years after the successful synthesis of ent-brevipolide H (ent-8), in 2016, Hou and co-workers reported the first total synthesis of natural brevipolide H (8) [15]. The retrosynthesis was initiated by disconnection of the cinnamate ester bond to give intermediate 79. The 5,6-dihydro-α

• (13) Sabitha and Raju demonstrated the first total synthesis of brevipolide M (13) in 2017 [17]. In the retrosynthesis, compound 93 is hypothesized from the Mitsunobu inversion at the C6’ stereocenter with (E)-p-methoxycinnamic acid (17) and ring-closing metathesis of tetrahydrofuran 93 (Scheme 11

• , Sabitha and Raju reported another approach to synthesize brevipolide M (13) which was shorter and more efficient than the former strategy [18]. Furthermore, this improved strategy was applied to achieve the first total synthesis of brevipolide N (14) by utilizing a different acid counterpart in the late

Advances in mercury(II)-salt-mediated cyclization reactions of unsaturated bonds

• Sumana Mandal,
• Raju D. Chaudhari and
• Goutam Biswas

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 2348–2376, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.153

• presence of stoichiometric/catalytic amounts of Hg(II) salts. The classification of this review is based on the following topics. Cyclization reactions involving the stoichiometric amount of Hg(II) salts. Cyclization reactions involving the catalytic amount of Hg(II) salts. Total synthesis involving Hg(II

• insertion and then oxidation (Scheme 54). This methodology was later successfully utilized for the total synthesis of raloxifene and benzo[b]thiophene derivatives [115]. Cyclization involving allenes (>C=C=C<) Hg(II) triflate salts had also been successfully employed for the arylallene 181 cyclization by

• 186 in an efficient and selective manner. It was also shown that from enantiopure allenyl derivatives, the desired pure cyclized product was generated by utilizing the above reaction conditions (Scheme 57) [118]. Mercury(II)-salt-mediated cyclization in total synthesis Apart from previously described

Base-free enantioselective S_N2 alkylation of 2-oxindoles via bifunctional phase-transfer catalysis

• Mili Litvajova,
• Emiliano Sorrentino,
• Brendan Twamley and
• Stephen J. Connon

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 2287–2294, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.146

• the SN2 alkylation of methylene ester-substituted 2-oxindole 4 [31]. The utility of this methodology has been demonstrated through the total synthesis of (−)-debromoflustramine B (Scheme 1B). In an attempt to devise variants of this reaction of greater versatility and synthetic utility; we sought to

Progress and challenges in the synthesis of sequence controlled polysaccharides

• Giulio Fittolani,
• Theodore Tyrikos-Ergas,
• Denisa Vargová,
• Manishkumar A. Chaube and
• Martina Delbianco

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 1981–2025, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.129

Asymmetric organocatalyzed synthesis of coumarin derivatives

• Natália M. Moreira,
• Lorena S. R. Martelli and
• Arlene G. Corrêa

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 1952–1980, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.128

• starting material in the asymmetric organocatalyzed reaction, the Enders group described the use of (S)-proline as catalyst in an intramolecular aldol reaction, enabling a new strategy to obtain coumarin natural products [34]. As for example, the total synthesis of (+)-smyrindiol (17), a linear

• , tolerates electron-donating and -withdrawing groups and maintains its performance in gram scale (Scheme 36). Page et al. developed a total synthesis of the natural product (+)-scuteflorin A (119), being the key step an asymmetric epoxidation of xanthyletin (115) employing biphenylazepinium 120 as PTC

• cascade reaction. Total synthesis of (+)-smyrindiol (17). Michael addition of 4-hydroxycoumarin (1) to enones 2 through a bifunctional modified binaphthyl organocatalyst 18. Michael addition of ketones 20 to 3-aroylcoumarins 19 using a cinchona alkaloid-derived primary amine catalyst 22. Enantioselective

On the application of 3d metals for C–H activation toward bioactive compounds: The key step for the synthesis of silver bullets

• Renato L. Carvalho,
• Amanda S. de Miranda,
• Mateus P. Nunes,
• Roberto S. Gomes,
• Guilherme A. M. Jardim and
• Eufrânio N. da Silva Júnior

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 1849–1938, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.126

• increasing the overall yield. The resulting eight-step synthesis could be scaled to produce more than 100 kg of compound 41 [109]. Based on what was presented so far, vanadium catalysis is mainly applied as one of the steps involved in a total synthesis that usually leads to the formation of a valuable

• White’s oxidation method as the final step in the first total synthesis of gracilioether F (75) [157], a natural polyketide with an unusual tricyclic core and five contiguous stereocenters, part of the family of gracilioethers 71–74 (Scheme 26A) extracted from the marine sponge Plakinastrella mamillaris

• anilines afforded α-aminoalkyl radicals that could be coupled with a wide range of electrophilic partners to afford the products in moderate to good yields. The new reaction was also used in the first step of the total synthesis of a caspase-3 inhibitor (90), and mechanistic investigations showed that O2

Methodologies for the synthesis of quaternary carbon centers via hydroalkylation of unactivated olefins: twenty years of advances

• Thiago S. Silva and
• Fernando Coelho

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 1565–1590, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.112

• strategy in total synthesis can be found [82][83][84][85][86][87][88][89][90]. The reaction’s mild conditions and high chemoselectivity allowed its use even in advanced steps in a total synthesis route when diverse functional groups were present in the intermediates. Two representative examples of the

• potential of this strategy in total synthesis routes are the work by Liu [83] for the synthesis of hispidanin A (55, Scheme 23A) and the synthesis of (−)-nodulisporic acid C (58) described by Pronin [84] (Scheme 23B). In both studies, cascade reactions involving the putative enolate ion formed after the

Total synthesis of ent-pavettamine

• Memory Zimuwandeyi,
• Manuel A. Fernandes,
• Amanda L. Rousseau and
• Moira L. Bode

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 1440–1446, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.99

• 1995, was previously identified as a polyamine with C2 symmetry and a 1,3-syn-diol moiety on a C10 carbon backbone – one of very few substituted polyamines to be isolated from nature. Its absolute configuration was later established by our first reported total synthesis in 2010. Herein we report the

• first total synthesis of the enantiomer of pavettamine, ent-pavettamine. The symmetrical structure of the molecule allows for the synthesis of a common C5 fragment that can be divergently transformed into two synthons for later convergent coupling to furnish the target carbon framework. Based on the

Icilio Guareschi and his amazing “1897 reaction”

• Gian Cesare Tron,
• Alberto Minassi,
• Giovanni Sorba,
• Mara Fausone and
• Giovanni Appendino

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 1335–1351, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.93

• industrialized total synthesis of a nontrivial natural product. The original experimental protocol was recently improved by replacing the inorganic base (KOH, NaOH) with the amidine base diazobicycloundecane (DBU) as well as ethanol with n-propanol [49]. The type-III Guareschi reaction is a three-component

N-tert-Butanesulfinyl imines in the asymmetric synthesis of nitrogen-containing heterocycles

• Joseane A. Mendes,
• Paulo R. R. Costa,
• Miguel Yus,
• Francisco Foubelo and
• Camilla D. Buarque

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 1096–1140, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.86

Recent advances in palladium-catalysed asymmetric 1,4–additions of arylboronic acids to conjugated enones and chromones

• Jan Bartáček,
• Jan Svoboda,
• Martin Kocúrik,
• Jaroslav Pochobradský,
• Alexander Čegan,
• Miloš Sedlák and
• Jiří Váňa

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 1048–1085, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.84

• enantioselectivities (85–99% ee; entry 1; Table 25) and used in the total synthesis of terpenoids (Scheme 14) [10]. In the same year, these terpenoids were also prepared by the Stoltz group [11]. Arylboronic acids bearing the appropriate functional groups were identified and the addition reactions to 3-methyl-2

• further used in the work published in 2020 by Bisai et al. for the addition of 4-tolylboronic acid to 3-methyl-2-cyclohexenone in the total synthesis of the aromatic sesquiterpene (−)-ar-tenuifolene (Scheme 16) [12]. Later in 2020, Bisai et al. published the application of the L9/Pd(TFA)2 catalytic system

• organoboron reagents to enones [3][26][35]. Enantioselective β-arylation of cyclohexanone [38]. Application of L2/Pd(OAc)2 in the total synthesis of terpenes [8]. Plausible catalytic cycle for the addition of phenylboronic acid to 2-cyclohexenone catalysed by L3/Pd(dba)2 [40]. Microwave-assisted addition of

Prins cyclization-mediated stereoselective synthesis of tetrahydropyrans and dihydropyrans: an inspection of twenty years

• Asha Budakoti,
• Pradip Kumar Mondal,
• Prachi Verma and
• Jagadish Khamrai

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 932–963, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.77

• the strategy has further been successfully applied in the total synthesis of bioactive macrocycles and related natural products. In this context, hundreds of valuable contributions have already been made in this area, and the present review is intended to provide the systematic assortment of diverse

• Prins cyclization strategies, covering the literature reports of the last twenty years (from 2000 to 2019), with an aim to give an overview on exciting advancements in this area and designing new strategies for the total synthesis of related natural products. Keywords: asymmetric; natural products

• . Thus far, several methods have been devised for the construction of substituted tetrahydropyran rings. Since the year 2000, a number of conceptually different reactions have been developed for the efficient construction of THP rings and were eventually employed in the total synthesis of natural

Total synthesis of pyrrolo[2,3-c]quinoline alkaloid: trigonoine B

• Takashi Nishiyama,
• Erina Hamada,
• Daishi Ishii,
• Yuuto Kihara,
• Nanase Choshi,
• Natsumi Nakanishi,
• Mari Murakami,
• Kimiko Taninaka,
• Noriyuki Hatae and
• Tominari Choshi

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 730–736, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.62

• , Yokohama University of Pharmacy, 601 Matano, Totsuka-ku, Yokohama 245-0066, Japan 10.3762/bjoc.17.62 Abstract The first total synthesis of the pyrrolo[2,3-c]quinoline alkaloid trigonoine B (1) was accomplished via a six-step sequence involving the construction of an N-substituted 4-aminopyrrolo[2,3-c

• medicinal chemists. The total syntheses of aplidiopsamine A (2) [5][6][7][8][9] and marinoquinolines 3 [10][11][12][13] have been achieved by various synthetic strategies. Nevertheless, the total synthesis of trigonoine B (1) has not yet been reported. We have been interested in the synthesis of

• MeAαC by the electrocyclization of 3-alkenyl-2-carbodiimidoindole derivatives obtained by an aza-Wittig reaction of indol-2-yl-iminophosphoranes and isocyanates [28]. In this work, we report the first total synthesis of trigonoine B (1) involving the construction of a pyrrolo[2,3-c]quinoline framework

Designed whole-cell-catalysis-assisted synthesis of 9,11-secosterols

• Marek Kõllo,
• Marje Kasari,
• Villu Kasari,
• Tõnis Pehk,
• Ivar Järving,
• Margus Lopp,
• Arvi Jõers and
• Tõnis Kanger

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 581–588, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.52

• total synthesis sequence. Inspired by several enzymatic oxidations [22][23][24][25], we envisioned to carry out oxidation at C9 in an environmentally benign way using an oxidation by a whole-cell biocatalysis method. The first, and so far the only chemoenzymatic synthesis of 9,11-secosterols using

Synthesis of (Z)-3-[amino(phenyl)methylidene]-1,3-dihydro-2H-indol-2-ones using an Eschenmoser coupling reaction

• Lukáš Marek,
• Lukáš Kolman,
• Jiří Váňa,
• Jan Svoboda and
• Jiří Hanusek

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 527–539, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.47

• with inversed configuration of the double bond. Several synthetic strategies starting from isocyanate [22][23] or oxindole [4][12] precursors work well only with protected nitrogen(s) in the starting compounds whose preparation and protection/deprotection also lengthens the total synthesis and

Synthesis of legonmycins A and B, C(7a)-hydroxylated bacterial pyrrolizidines

• Wilfred J. M. Lewis,
• David M. Shaw and
• Jeremy Robertson

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 334–342, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.31

• cytotoxic against a variety of cancer cell lines, and both bohemamine and NP25302 inhibit HL-60 cell adhesion to Chinese hamster ovary cells expressing intercellular adhesion molecule ICAM-1 (CD-54). This interest led us to develop a total synthesis of NP25302 [25] and its 5-normethyl analog and, as

Total synthesis of decarboxyaltenusin

• Lucas Warmuth,
• Aaron Weiß,
• Marco Reinhardt,
• Anna Meschkov,
• Ute Schepers and
• Joachim Podlech

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 224–228, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.22

• -Leopoldshafen, Hermann-von-Helmholtz-Platz 1, Germany 10.3762/bjoc.17.22 Abstract The total synthesis of decarboxyaltenusin (5’-methoxy-6-methyl-[1,1’-biphenyl]-3,3’,4-triol), a toxin produced by various mold fungi, has been achieved in seven steps in a yield of 31% starting from 4-methylcatechol and 1-bromo

• compound due to the reduced accessibility of the precursors and since no experimental details have been published for the transformation. To continue our efforts in the total synthesis of mycotoxins [8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18] and to provide larger amounts of the polyketide 1 sufficient for

• %. Conclusion The total synthesis of decarboxyaltenusin (1) was achieved in seven steps in a yield of 31% starting from 4-methylcatechol (2) and 1-bromo-3,5-dimethoxybenzene (7), where the longest linear sequence has consisted of five steps. Decarboxyaltenusin turned out to be nontoxic towards human HeLa cells

Progress in the total synthesis of inthomycins

• Bidyut Kumar Senapati

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 58–82, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.7

• application of various efforts towards the synthesis of inthomycins and their analogues systematically. Keywords: antibiotics; inthomycins; oxazololomycin; Stille coupling; total synthesis; Introduction Inthomycins, alternatively known as phthoxazolins, are a class of compounds in which a methylene

• have generated immense interest among the chemists. Over the past two decades, a wide variety of synthetic strategies have been dedicated towards the synthesis of the inthomycin class of antibiotics. An earlier report on the total synthesis of oxazolomycins provides an overview of the author’s

• Whiting [19][20], several racemic and asymmetric total syntheses of inthomycins A–C (1–3) have been carried out in many research groups (Figure 2). However, only four synthetic strategies that lead to the total synthesis of all three members of inthomycins A–C (1–3) are available (Figure 2, route b, d, h

Recent progress in the synthesis of homotropane alkaloids adaline, euphococcinine and N-methyleuphococcinine

• Dimas J. P. Lima,
• Antonio E. G. Santana,
• Michael A. Birkett and
• Ricardo S. Porto

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 28–41, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.4

• these targets highly relevant when considering total synthesis. Since Tursch's pioneering work, several total and formal syntheses of homotropane alkaloids released by coccinellids have been carried out, contributing to a more accurate chemical and biological understanding of these alkaloids

Pentannulation of N-heterocycles by a tandem gold-catalyzed [3,3]-rearrangement/Nazarov reaction of propargyl ester derivatives: a computational study on the crucial role of the nitrogen atom

• Giovanna Zanella,
• Martina Petrović,
• Dina Scarpi,
• Ernesto G. Occhiato and
• Enrique Gómez-Bengoa

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2020, 16, 3059–3068, doi:10.3762/bjoc.16.255

• of a triple bond, which has ultimately led to the total synthesis of several natural compounds [2][8]. The gold-catalyzed rearrangement of suitably substituted propargylic esters in particular provides a platform for cascade processes that involve a cationic or an allene intermediate generated in the

• to carry out a complete computational analysis to evaluate the entire reaction profile and to help us validate our hypothesis before embarking on a potential total synthesis, involving such a process, in the future. In parallel, a few suitable substrates were also subjected to gold catalysis with the

All-carbon [3 + 2] cycloaddition in natural product synthesis

• Zhuo Wang and
• Junyang Liu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2020, 16, 3015–3031, doi:10.3762/bjoc.16.251

• -workers used a platinum-catalyzed intramolecular [3 + 2] cycloaddition of a propargylic ketal derivative to complete the total synthesis of Kopsia indole alkaloids [67] (Scheme 11). The platinum-catalyzed intramolecular [3 + 2] cycloaddition of propargylic ketal derivative 142 afforded indoline 143 in 58

• reaction. Total synthesis of natural products reported by Yang and co-workers applying rhodium-catalyzed intramolecular [3 + 2] cycloaddition. (A) Synthesis of (−)-lingzhiol (17) [49]. (B) Synthesis of lycojaponicumin C (18) [58]. (C) Synthesis of sinensilactam A (20) [59]. (A) Platinum(II)-catalyzed

• mechanism. (C) The completion of total synthesis of kopsanone (19). (A) Synthesis of phyllocladanol (21) features a Lewis acid-catalyzed formal intramolecular [3 + 2] cross-cycloaddition of cyclopropane 1,1-diesters with alkenes [68]. (B) (5,6-Dihydro-1,4-dithiin-2-yl)methanol 151 used as a versatile allyl