1856
J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2001, 123, 1856-1861
Remarkable Control of Radical Cyclization Processes of Cyclic
Enyne: Total Syntheses of (()-Methyl Gummiferolate, (()-Methyl
7â-Hydroxykaurenoate, and (()-Methyl 7-Oxokaurenoate and Formal
Synthesis of (()-Gibberellin A12 from a Common Synthetic Precursor
Masahiro Toyota,* Masahiro Yokota, and Masataka Ihara*
Contribution from the Department of Organic Chemistry, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences,
Tohoku UniVersity, Aobayama, Sendai 980-8578, Japan
ReceiVed September 29, 2000
Abstract: Total syntheses of (()-methyl gummiferolate (13b), (()-methyl 7â-hydroxykaurenoate (14b), and
(()-methyl 7-oxokaurenoate (14d) and a formal synthesis of (()-gibberellin A12 (15) have been accomplished
through the common synthetic precursor, (3aR*,7aR*)-3,3-dimethyl-7a-(2-propynyl)-3a,4,7,7a-tetrahydroisoben-
zofuranone (16). The homoallyl-homoallyl radical rearrangement reaction of the monocyclic enyne 25, derived
from 16 in two steps, afforded the bicyclo[2.2.2]octane compound 26, which was converted to (()-methyl
gummiferolate (13b). In contrast, the radical cyclization of the bicyclic enyne 16 gave the tricyclic lactone 19,
leading to (()-methyl 7â-hydroxykaurenoate (14b) and (()-methyl 7-oxokaurenoate (14d). Transformation
of 14d into lactone 20 was carried out in a single step under bromination conditions. This constitutes a formal
total synthesis of gibberellin A12 (15).
Introduction
ring in 11. Attack by tributyltin hydride on the less hindered
convex face of the more abundant conformation 12 provided
the tricyclic compound as a major product (Scheme 2).5
Having successfully developed a flexible methodology for
the selective formation of bicyclo[2.2.2]octane or bicyclo[3.2.1]-
octane derivatives, our efforts were next focused on the total
synthesis of plant growth-regulators, such as gummiferolic acid
(13a) and gibberellin A12 (15), from a common starting material.
Plant Growth-Regulators. Interestingly, some tetracyclic
diterpenoids, which have bicyclo[2.2.2]octane or bicyclo[3.2.1]-
octane ring systems as their CD rings, exhibit considerable plant
growth-regulatory activity. Gummiferolic acid (13a), which was
isolated from Margotia gummifera by Pinar et al.,6 possesses
six contiguous stereogenic centers and a bicyclo[2.2.2]octane
ring system as the CD part. In addition, 13a shows plant growth-
regulatory activity similar to or greater than that displayed by
gibberellic acid.7 Although kaurenoic acid and its derivatives,
such as 14, are biosynthetic intermediates for gibberellins,
grayanotoxins, and stevioside, little is known about activities
worthy of special mention.8 Gibberellin A12 (15), isolated from
Gibberella fujikuroi and whose structure was elucidated by
Cross et al.,9 has a trans-hydrindane AB ring system and a spiro-
fused bicyclo[3.2.1]octane moiety that comprises the C and D
rings (Figure 1).
Radical reactions have evolved as a powerful methodology
for the synthesis of biologically active organic compounds
during the last two decades, and many elegant total syntheses
of structurally complicated natural products have been realized
employing radical cyclizations and cascade radical reactions.1
Some of the attractive features of the radical reactions include
high functional group tolerance, mild reaction conditions, and
regio- and stereoselectivity. To prepare moderately functional-
ized bicyclo[2.2.2]- or bicyclo[3.2.1]octane ring compounds,
both of which are crucial carbon frameworks for many biologi-
cally active natural products, we envisioned novel synthetic
routes to these bicyclic compounds from a common intermediate
by using radical cyclizations. The synthetic design is depicted
in Scheme 1; the initially generated vinyl radical 3 from
acetylene 1 or vinyl halide 2 was expected to cyclize to afford
the bicyclic radical 5.2 The resulting radical 5 would undergo
3-exo-trig cyclization to give the unstable cyclopropylcarbinyl
radical 7, which would rearrange to the thermodynamically more
stable homoally radical 8.3
After extensive investigation, it was found that the homoallyl
radical 10 with a methyl group in the R2 position gave good
selectivity for the bicyclo[2.2.2]octane since the 3-exo-trig
cyclization proceeds smoothly, probably due to the nonbonding
interaction between the R2 substituent and Bu3Sn•.4 In contrast,
avoidance of strain of the furanone ring in 11 can be important
in bringing about conformational inversion of the six-membered
Synthetic Plans for Gummiferolic Acid and Gibberellin
A12. In an effort to synthesize structurally different plant growth-
regulators, 13 and 15, through the use of radical cyclization
reactions, we envisaged (3aR*,7aR*)-3,3-dimethyl-7a-(2-pro-
pynyl)-3a,4,7,7a-tetrahydroisobenzofuranone (16) as a common
(1) (a) Giese, B.; Kopping, B.; Gobel, T.; Dickhaut, J.; Thoma, G.;
Kulicke, K. J.; Trach, F. Org. React. 1996, 48, 301-856. (b) Curran, D.
P.; Porter, N. A.; Giese, B. Stereochemistry of Radical Reactions; VCH:
Weinheim, New York, Basel, Cambridge, Tokyo, 1995.
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1554.
(2) (a) Curran, D. P.; Chang, C.-T. J. Org. Chem. 1989, 54, 3140-3157.
(b) Yadav, V.; Fallis, A. G. Tetrahedron Lett. 1989, 30, 3283-3286.
(3) (a) Beckwith, L, J.; O’Shea, D. M. Tetrahedron Lett. 1986, 27, 4525-
4528. (b) Stork, G.; Mook, R., Jr. Tetrahedron Lett. 1986, 27, 4529-4532.
(4) Damm, W.; Giese, B.; Hartung, J.; Hasskerl, T.; Houk, K. N.; Huter,
O.; Zipse, H. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1992, 114, 4067-4079.
(6) Pinar, M.; Rodriguez, B.; Alemany, A. Phytochemistry 1978, 17,
1637-1640.
(7) Villalobos, N.; Martin, L.; Macias, M. J.; Mancheno, B.; Grande,
M. Phytochemistry 1994, 37, 635-639.
(8) MacMillan, J. Nat. Prod. Rep. 1997, 14, 221-243.
(9) Cross, B. E.; Norton, K. J. Chem. Soc. 1965, 1570-1572.
10.1021/ja0035506 CCC: $20.00 © 2001 American Chemical Society
Published on Web 02/10/2001