ARTICLE IN PRESS
JID: CCLET
[m5G;August 30, 2021;18:5]
A. Zheng, T. Zhou, S. Wang et al.
Chinese Chemical Letters xxx (xxxx) xxx
Scheme 2. Substrate scope with respect to hydroxyl vinyl ketones.a a) 11a
(0.22 mmol), 12 (0.2 mmol), PTSA (0.02 mmol) in xylene/1,4-dioxane (4:1, 10 mL)
stirred at room temperature for 0.5–3 h; combined yields of the isolated mixture of
13 and 14; ratio (13:14) determined by 1H NMR unless noted otherwise.
Fig. 1. Representative natural products bearing furo[2,3-b]chromene or hybrid
skeletons.
vents could provide almost identical yield and diastereomeric ratio
as those of THF (entries 7 and 8). Attempting to further improve
the yield and selectivity, we then screened several protonic acids as
catalysts. Catalytic amount of pyridinium p-toluenesulfonate (PPTS)
and stoichiometric AcOH were proven to be non-effective, whereas
p-toluenesulfonic acid (PTSA) could trigger the desired transforma-
tion (entries 9–11). Notably, when we occasionally changed the sol-
vent mixture to xylene/1,4-dioxane, both the yield and diastere-
oselectivity were obviously increased (entry 12). However, chang-
ing the ratio of the mixture solvents failed to further improve the
reaction efficiency (entries 13 and 14). Finally, 0.1 equiv. of PTSA
as catalyst in xylene/1,4-dioxane (4:1) were selected as the op-
timal reaction condition (83% yield, >10:1 dr, entry 12, Table 1),
thereby laying a solid foundation for the efficient syntheses of the
benzopyran-fused polycyclic ketals.
With the optimized reaction conditions established, the scope
of the biomimetic cascade reaction with respect to both reac-
tion partners was evaluated. A series of hydroxyl vinyl ketones
(12) could be converted to the corresponding furo[2,3-b]chromene
products 13 and 14 in moderate to high yields with different di-
astereoselectivities as summarized in Scheme 2. Hydroxyl vinyl ke-
tones bearing different aryl groups such as 4-methylphenyl (12b
or 12e), 4-methoxylphenyl (12c), and 4-bromophenyl (12d) were
suitable reaction candidates, delivering the corresponding products
13b-e in 55%–86% yields with good diastereoselectivities. Notably,
hydroxyl vinyl ketones with an alkyl group attached on the α-
carbon gave good yields but with poor diastereoselectivities (13f-g
and 14f-g), probably due to steric effects. Furthermore, hydroxyl
vinyl ketones bearing an extended chain could also undergo this
transformation smoothly albeit with imperfect stereoselectivity, al-
lowing the efficient construction of benzopyran-fused polycyclic
ketals 13h-i and 14h-i.
Scheme 1. Proposed biogenesis of hyperaspidinols A and B.
myrtucommuacetalone [35], sanctis [37], and tomentosones [38]. 6
might generate from hyperione A (9) or B (10) via a retro-Michael
addition/hemiacetalization/dehydration cascade sequence. In this
regard, from the biogenetic perspective, if a one-pot acid-catalyzed
cascade sequence merging the fascinating multistep transforma-
tions was established, it would render straightforward syntheses
of hyperaspidinols A and B (1 and 2) with high efficiency.
With the biomimetic scenario in mind, we first explored the
construction of the benzopyran ketal skeleton. Optimization stud-
ies commenced with an evaluation of solvent, time, and catalyst
by using the readily accessible phloroglucinol 11a [39,40] and hy-
droxyl vinyl ketone 12a [41] as model substrates (Table 1). When
the two substrates were treated with TFA in methanol, only com-
plex mixtures were observed (entry 1). Gratifyingly, switching the
solvent to THF delivered the desired cascade reaction smoothly,
furnishing the corresponding furo[2,3-b]chromene products 13a
and 14a in 74% isolated yield with 8:1 diastereomeric ratio (entry
2).
Encouraged by the aforementioned excellent results, further ef-
forts towards verifying the substrate scope and versatility of the
phenolic reaction partner 11 were also conducted. As shown in
Scheme 3, the phenol substrates with different acyl substituents
such as iso-valeryl (11j) and n-hexanoyl (11k) were well toler-
ated under the standard reaction conditions, which could give
rise to the desired products in good yields and diastereomeric
ratios, thus clarifying excellent tolerance of the developed cas-
cade sequence. Similarly, the ester substituted phloroglucinol (11l)
could also smoothly react with hydroxyl vinyl ketone 12a to af-
ford the polycyclic ketals 13l and 14l in 70% overall yield with a
ratio about 3:1. 3,5-Dimethoxyphenol 11m was also suitable re-
A systematic screening of solvents disclosed that nonpolar sol-
vents such as xylene, dichloromethane, tetrahydrofuran, and their
mixtures worsened the reaction in both yields and diastereoselec-
tivities except for faster reaction rate (entries 2–6). The solvent
screening showed that 1,4-dioxane and xylene/THF mixture sol-
2