10.1002/anie.201705523
Angewandte Chemie International Edition
COMMUNICATION
was done before deprotection of the ally group, because of the
base-instability of halichondrin-C polycycle. Spectroscopic
comparison established that norhalichondrins A-C thus obtained
were identical to the authentic samples.
150 mg of halichondrin B (77% yield) was obtained from 200 mg
of the right half 5. In turn, 5 was synthesized from commercial D-
galactal in 21.1% overall yield in 24 steps.[12] Thus, the overall
yield from commercial D-galactal to halichondrin B was 14.3%,
i.e., 1.07 g halichondrin B (MW = 1111) from 1.0 g D-galactal
(MW = 148). The reproducibility of overall transformation was
excellent and no potential issue was noticed for scaling.
Halichondrin-B Series
a-1; yields: i = 88%; ii = 77%
5
5
5
+
+
+
14
15
16
Halichondrin B (17)
a-2; yields: i = 84%; ii = 72%
a-3; yields: i = 82%; ii = 75%
Norhalichondrin B (18)
Homohalichondrin B (19)
Halichondrin-A Series
b-1; yields: i = 86%; ii = 61%
b-2; yields: i = 87%; ii = 64%
b-3; yields: i = 85%; ii = 71%
12
12
12
+
+
+
14
15
16
Halichondrin A (20)
Norhalichondrin A (21)
Homohalichondrin A (22)
Halichondrin-C Series
c-1; yields: i = 85%; ii = 55%
c-2; yields: i = 85%; ii = 58%
c-3; yields: i = 85%; ii = 65%
Figure 1. X-ray structure of halichondrin C
13
13
13
+
+
+
14
15
16
Halichondrin C (23)
Norhalichondrin C (24)
Homohalichondrin C (25)
Scheme 5. Synthesis of halichondrins. For all the cases, step #1 was ketone
coupling under the condition specified in Scheme 3; step #2 was TBAF (10
equiv), pivalic acid (5 equiv), DMF, rt, 3~8 h; step #3 was PPTS, CH2Cl2,
~20 °C, 2~4 h. Isomerization of C38-epi-halichondrins was done with TMSOTf,
CH2Cl2, -78 °C. For the halichondrin-A or -C series, these steps were followed
by PPTS, 2,2-dimethylpropan-1,3-diol, i-PrOH, rt, overnight or by Pd(PPh3)4,
dimedone, CH2Cl2, rt, 4~8 h, respectively. In the norhalichondrin series, the
methyl ester at C53 was hydrolyzed by treatment with aq. LiOH (excess), THF,
rt, 2 h. Numbers after i and ii indicate the yield for ketone couplings and overall
yield for after ketone coupling, respectively.
Acknowledgements
Financial support from the Eisai USA Foundation is gratefully
acknowledged. K.Y. thanks the Naito Foundation for a fellowship.
We thank Dr. Shao-Liang Zheng, Department of Chemistry and
Chemical Biology, Harvard University, for the X-ray data
collection and structure determination.
Keywords: natural products • total synthesis • ketone coupling •
Lastly, the ketone route was applied to the homohalichondrin
series. It is noteworthy that the previous enone route was not
effective for a synthesis of homohalichondrins; it was successful
only for homohalichondrin A, but with a very low efficiency (~5%
isolated yield). To our delight, the new synthetic route was found
effective for a total synthesis of all the homohalichondrins; the
overall efficiency in the homohalichondrin series was
comparable to that in the halichondrin and norhalichondrin
halichondrins • Zr/Ni-catalytic system
[1] a) D. Uemura, K. Takahashi, T. Yamamoto, C. Katayama, J. Tanaka, Y.
Okumura, Y. Hirata, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1985, 107, 4796; b) Y. Hirata,
D. Uemura, Pure Appl. Chem. 1986, 58, 701.
[2] For isolation of the halichondrins from different species of sponges, see
reference 2 of reference 3c.
[3] a) T. D. Aicher, K. R. Buszek, F. G. Fang, C. J. Forsyth; S. H. Jung, Y.
Kishi, M. C. Matelich, P. M. Scola, D. M. Spero, S. K. Yoon, J. Am.
Chem. Soc. 1992, 114, 3162; b) A. Yamamoto, A. Ueda, P. Brémond,
P. S. Tiseni, Y. Kishi, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2012, 134, 893; c) A. Ueda, A.
Yamamoto, D. Kato, Y. Kishi, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2014, 136, 5171 and
references cited therein.
series. For instance, 100 mg
5
furnished 72 mg
homohalichondrin
B
(75% overall yield). Spectroscopic
comparison (HR-MS, 1H and 13C NMR) confirmed that
homohalichondrins A-C were identical to the authentic samples.
[4] For synthetic work by Salomon, Burke, Yonemitsu, Phillips, and Yadav
see reference 3 of reference 3c.
[5] The best combination of protecting groups at C35, C41, and C48 was
recently identified to be TES, TBS, and TES, respectively.
[6] D. P. Negri, Y. Kishi, Tetrahedron Lett. 1987, 28, 1063.
In summary, a unified, efficient, and scalable synthesis of the
halichondrin class of natural products was completed. Newly
developed Zr/Ni-mediated one-pot ketone synthesis was used
for coupling of right halves with left haves, where Cp2ZrCl2 with
Zn or Mn was found crucial to accelerate the coupling rate and,
at the same time, suppress by-product formation. Halichondrins
were obtained from these ketones basically in two operations,
i.e., desilylation and [5,5]-spiroketal formation. Notably, the new
synthetic route was successfully applied for a total synthesis of
all the homohalichondrins. All the halichondrins thus synthesized
were isolated as crystalline solids. We succeeded in growing a
single crystal for X-ray analysis for some of them; thus far, the
analysis completed for halichondrin C (Figure 1), which was the
first successful X-ray analysis of intact halichondrins.[9] To
demonstrate the scalability, halichondrin B was chosen, where
[7]
a) Y. Ai, N. Ye, Q. Wang, K. Yahata, Y. Kishi, submitted for publication;
b) J. H. Lee, Y. Kishi, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2016, 138, 7178; c) V. P.
Kumar, V. S. Babu, K. Yahata, Y. Kishi, Org. Lett. 2017, 19, 2766.
[8] The feasibility of this disconnection was demonstrated with use of the
combination of CH2I at C40 with C(=O)SPy at C38.
[9] For the detailed procedure, see Supporting Information.
[10]
It was not clear whether 10 formed before or after 5 was consumed.
[11] This transformation was also done in one step, i.e., treatment of 7
directly with TBAF, buffered with pivalic acid.
[12]
a) K. Yahata, N. Ye, K. Iso, S. R. Naini, S. Yamashita, Y. Ai, Y. Kishi,
submitted for publication; b) K. Yahata, N. Ye, K. Iso, Y. Ai, J. Lee, Y.
Kishi, submitted for publication.
[13] Without addition of 2,2-dimethylpropan-1,3-diol, some of liberated
anisaldehyde was trapped with the triols at C51-C54.
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