Communications
DOI: 10.1002/anie.200800386
Natural Products
Total Synthesis of (+)-Neopeltolide by a Prins Macrocyclization**
Sang Kook Woo, Min Sang Kwon, and Eun Lee*
Neopeltolide (1) is a 12-membered macrolide from a Lithistid
sponge of the Neopeltidae family.[1] It is a potent inhibitor of
tumor cell proliferation with IC50 values of 1.2, 5.1, and
0.56 nm against human lung adenocarcinoma (A549), human
ovarian sarcoma (NCI/ADR-RES), and murine leukemia
(P388), respectively, and it is also a potent antifungal agent. A
2,4,6-trisubstituted oxane ring is an integral part of the
macrolactone framework and the substituent at the 4-position
features an oxazole-bearing carboxylate group identical to
that found in leucascandrolide A.[2] A recent total synthesis of
1[3] by Panek and co-workers corrected the stereochemical
assignments at C11 and C13, and a second total synthesis[4] by
Scheidt and co-workers confirmed the revised structure. We
report herein results of our recent efforts on the total
synthesis of 1.
For the expedient construction of 2,4,6-trisubstituted
oxane fragments, a Prins cyclization involving an aldehyde
and a homoallylic alcohol partner appeared to be feasible. In
the retrosynthetic analysis for 1, an intramolecular Prins
cyclization was envisioned; macrolactone A could be pre-
pared from aldehydic homoallylic alcohol B through cyclic
oxocarbenium ion D (Scheme 1). This reaction, if successful,
would lead to the bicyclic macrolactone A in a single step.
This type of cyclization reaction is reported in the literature,[5]
but it has been relatively unexplored for the synthesis of
complex natural products until recently.[6] The homoallylic
alcohol fragment (C) would serve as the precursor for B.
For the synthesis of fragment C, aldehyde 5 was obtained
Scheme 1. Retrosynthetic analysis.
from butanal (3) by a reaction sequence involving an
asymmetric crotyl transfer reaction,[7] protection of the
alcohol group with
a benzyl group, and ozonolysis
(Scheme 2). Titanium(IV) chloride mediated methallylation
proceeded stereoselectively to produce a homoallylic alcohol,
from which ester 7 was obtained by esterification with 2-
diphenylphosphinobenzoic acid (6). The substrate-directed
hydroformylation[8] of 7 preferentially produced desired
aldehyde 8 in a 5:1 ratio. Dimethyl acetal formation,
hydrolysis, and O methylation yielded dimethyl acetal 9.
The aldehyde obtained from 9 was preferentially trans-
formed into desired homoallylic alcohol 10 in a 5.5:1 ratio of
isomers by using the method of Brown for the allylation
(Scheme 3).[9] Intermediate 11 was prepared from 10 by a
sequence involving protecting the alcohol with a tert-butyldi-
methysilyl (TBS) group, cleaving the benzyl group by using
2,3-dichloro-5,6-dicyano-1,4-benzoquinone (DDQ), and
esterifying with 3,3-diethoxypropanoic acid. Compound 11
was reacted with triethylsilyl trifluoromethanesulfonate
(TESOTf) in acetic acid in the presence of trimethylsilyl
acetate (TMSOAc),[10] and subsequently treated under basic
conditions to yield bicyclic macrolactone 12. Approximately
10% racemization[11] was observed by careful spectroscopic
analysis of 12.
[*] S. K. Woo,M. S. Kwon,Prof. E. Lee
Department of Chemistry
College of Natural Sciences
Seoul National University
Seoul 151-747 (Korea)
Fax: (+82)2-889-1568
E-mail: eunlee@snu.ac.kr
The intramolecular Prins cyclization appeared to be a
viable solution in the synthesis of compounds like 1, and we
were intrigued by the possibility of an alternative Prins
cyclization approach. A second aldehydic homoallylic alcohol
(E) could also produce macrolactone A through cyclic
oxocarbenium intermediate G under the typical Prins con-
ditions (Scheme 4).
[**] This work was supported by a grant from MarineBio21,Ministry of
Maritime Affairs and Fisheries,Korea,and a grant from the Center
for Bioactive Molecular Hybrids (Yonsei University and KOSEF).
BK21 graduate fellowship grants to M.S.K. are gratefully acknowl-
edged.
Supporting information for this article is available on the WWW
3242
ꢀ 2008 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2008, 47, 3242 –3244