Technische Verfahren zur Synthese von Carotinoiden und verwandten Verbindungen aus 6-Oxo-isophoron. III. Ein neues Konzept fuer die Synthese der enantiomeren Astaxanthine

Article abstract of DOI:10.1002/hlca.19810640752

A new and efficient concept for the total synthesis of (3S,3'S)- and (3R,3'R)-astaxanthin (1a and 1c, resp.) in high overall yield and up to 99,2percent enantiomeric purity is described.Key intermediates are the (S)- and (R)-acetals 10 and 17, respectively (Scheme 2).These chiral building blocks were synthesized via three different routes: a) functionalization of enantiomeric 3-hydroxy-6-oxo-isophorons 2 and 11, respectively (Scheme 2); b) optical resolution of 3,4-dihydroxy-compound 19 (Scheme 3), and c) fermentative reductions of 6-oxo-isophorone derivatives (Schemes 4 and 5). - The absolute configurations of the two intermediates 12 and 13 (Scheme 2) have been confirmed by X-ray analysis.The final steps leading to the enantiomeric astaxanthins are identical with those described for optically inactive astaxanthin <1>.