The Evans Synthesis of (–)-Nakadomarin A

(–)-Nakadomarin A (4), isolated from the marine sponge Amphimedon sp. off the coast of Okinawa, shows interesting cytotoxic and antibacterial activity. David A. Evans of Harvard University prepared (J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2013, 135, 9338) 4 by coupling the enantiomerically pure lactam 2 with the prochiral lactam 1. The preparation of 1 began with the aldehyde 5. Following the Comins protocol, addition of lithio morpholine to the carbonyl gave an intermediate that could be metalated and iodinated. Protection of the aldehyde followed by Heck coupling with allyl alcohol gave the aldehyde 7. Addition of the phosphorane derived from 8 followed by deprotection gave 9 with the expected Z selectivity. Addition of the phosphonate 10 was also Z selective, leading to the lactam 1. The preparation of 2 began with the enantiomerically pure imine 12. The addition of 13 was highly diastereoselective, setting the absolute configuration of 15. Alkylation with the iodide 16 delivered 17, which was closed to 2 under conditions of kinetic ring-closing metathesis, using the Grubbs first generation Ru catalyst. The condensation of 1 with 2 gave both of the diastereomeric products, with a 9:1 preference for the desired 3. Experimentally, acid catalysis alone did not effect cyclization, suggesting that the cyclization is proceeding via silylated intermediates. The diastereoselectivity can be rationalized by a preferred extended transition state for the intramolecular Michael addition. Selective activation of 3 followed by reduction gave 18, which underwent Bischler-Napieralski cyclization to give an intermediate that could be reduced to (–)-nakadomarin A (4). It was later found that exposure of 3 to Tf2O and 19 followed by the addition of Redal gave direct conversion to 4. It is instructive to compare this work to the two previous syntheses of 4 that we have highlighted, by Dixon (OHL May 3, 2010) and by Funk (OHL July 4, 2011). Together, these three independent approaches to 4 showcase the variety and dexterity of current organic synthesis.

Metal-Mediated Ring Construction: The Hoveyda Synthesis of (–)-Nakadomarin A

John F. Hartwig of the University of California, Berkeley effected (J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2013, 135, 3375) selective borylation of the cyclopropane 1 to give 2. It would be particularly useful if this borylation could be made enantioselective. Eric M. Ferreira of Colorado State University showed (Org. Lett. 2013, 15, 1772) that the enantomeric excess of 3 was transferred to the highly substituted cyclopropane 4. Antonio M. Echavarren of ICIQ Tarragona demonstrated (Org. Lett. 2013, 15, 1576) that Au-mediated cyclobutene construction could be used to form the medium ring of 6. Joseph M. Fox of the University of Delaware developed (J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2013, 135, 9283) what promises to be a general enantioselective route to cyclobutanes such as 8 by way of the intermediate bicyclobutane (not illustrated). Huw M.L. Davies of Emory University reported (Org. Lett. 2013, 15, 310) a preliminary investigation in this same direction. Masahisa Nakada of Waseda University prepared (Org. Lett. 2013, 15, 1004) the cyclopentane 10 by enantioselective cyclization of 9 followed by reductive opening. Young-Ger Suh of Seoul National University cyclized (Org. Lett. 2013, 15, 531) the lactone 11 to the cyclopentane 12. Xavier Ariza and Jaume Farràs of the Universitat de Barcelona optimized (J. Org. Chem. 2013, 78, 5482) the Ti-mediated reductive cyclization of 13 to 14. The hydrogenation catalyst reduced the intermediate Ti–C bond without affecting the alkene. Erick M. Carreira of ETH Zürich observed (Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2013, 52, 5382) that a sterically demanding Rh catalyst mediated the highly diastereoselective cyclization of 15 to 16. The ketone 16 was the key intermediate in a synthesis of the epoxyisoprostanes. Jianrong (Steve) Zhou of Nanyang Technological University used (Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2013, 52, 4906) a Pd catalyst to effect the coupling of 17 with the prochiral 18. Geum-Sook Hwang and Do Hyun Ryu of Sungkyunkwan University devised (J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2013, 135, 7126) a boron catalyst to effect the addition of the diazo ester 21 to 20. They showed that the sidechain stereocenter was effective in directing the subsequent hydrogenation of 22.

Catalytic asymmetric synthesis of the pentacyclic core of (−)-nakadomarin A via oxazolidine as an iminium cation equivalent

A catalytic asymmetric synthesis of the pentacyclic core of (−)-nakadomarin A was achieved.