DOI: 10.1002/chem.201403163
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Natural Product Synthesis
Redox Divergent Synthesis of Fawcettimine-Type Lycopodium
Alkaloids
Hisaaki Zaimoku and Tsuyoshi Taniguchi*[a]
Abstract: A new approach for synthesis of fawcettimine-
type Lycopodium alkaloids is described. A divergent strategy
was achieved by applying stereoselective Diels–Alder reac-
tion followed by redox-controlled elaboration. Eventually,
(À)-8-deoxyserratinine, (+)-fawcettimine, (À)-lycopoclav-
amine-A, (À)-serratine, (À)-lycopoclavamine-B and (À)-serra-
tanidine were successfully accessed.
Introduction
cently provided a platform for synthetic chemists. Many ele-
gant approaches to construct complex cyclic structures of
these alkaloids have been reported.[1,8] On the other hand,
most of the synthetic studies focused on (À)-8-deoxyserrati-
nine, (+)-fawcettimine, and their skeletal derivatives (defined
as “Standard”) because easily available chiral cyclohexenones
1, which is often prepared from (+)-pulegone, could be an
origin of the 15-(R)-methyl group in these alkaloids.[1e,f] Conse-
quently, they are “skeletal divergent synthesis” of these stan-
dard alkaloids. In contrast, synthetic studies of irregular types
of the alkaloids, such as (À)-lycopoclavamine-A having an “un-
usual methyl group”, “highly oxygenated” (À)-serratine and
(À)-serratanidine, are sparse.[8a,9,10] This is probably because the
strategy using convenient material 1 is not applicable to syn-
thesis of these alkaloids unlike that of (À)-8-deoxyserratinine
and (+)-fawcettimine. In such cases, stereocontrolled introduc-
tion of methyl and hydroxy groups is required. Inubushi and
co-workers reported the results of their pioneer study on the
synthesis of (Æ)-serratinine in 1974,[11] but insufficient stereo-
control was unavoidable at that time. Quite recently, we re-
ported the first syntheses of (Æ)-serratine and related alkaloids
using a stereocontrolled strategy based on Diels–Alder reaction
between a 2-alkynylcyclopetenone and (E)-1-(trimethylsilyloxy)-
3-methylbutadiene.[12]
More than 300 alkaloids have been isolated from the Lycopodi-
um genus to date, and they have unique and complex cyclic
structures.[1] In addition, recent studies have revealed that
some of them have remarkable biological activity.[1] These facts
imply that Lycopodium alkaloids are potentially a rich vein of
medicinal seeds. Lycopodium alkaloids consist of some sub-
classes. The fawcettimine class, which contains over 80 alka-
loids, recently received much attention in the field of chemis-
try. (+)-Fawcettimine is a representative alkaloid in this class
and bears a cis-fused [4.3.0]bicyclo structure and an azonane
ring with a quaternary carbon (Figure 1, Core B).[2] (À)-8-Deoxy-
serratinine also belongs in the same class because its skeleton
is built up by connecting a nitrogen atom of the azonane ring
with a C-4 carbon (Figure 1, Core A). In addition, many miscel-
laneous skeletal derivatives are known. Thus, fawcettimine-
type alkaloids can be classified by differences in functional
groups (position, number or stereochemistry). In category A,
there are four related alkaloids, (À)-8-deoxyserratinine,[3] (À)-
serratinine[4] (not shown in Figure 1, see Scheme 8), (À)-serra-
tine[4] and (À)-serratanidine,[5a,d,6] and they differ in the number
or position of hydroxyl groups. Some newcomers relevant to
(+)-fawcettimine were recently isolated. (À)-Lycopoclavamine-
A is an atypical example of fawcettimine-type Lycopodium alka-
loids because it has a methyl group of which the stereochem-
istry is opposite to that of other related alkaloids.[7] (À)-Lycopo-
clavamine-B has a tertiary hydroxyl group on the C-15 position
as does (À)-serratine.[7] In any case, an oxygen functional
group (hydroxyl or ketone group) on a C-13 position emerge
as a common component in most of fawcettimine-type alka-
loids. Indeed, fawcettimine-type Lycopodium alkaloids have re-
In this paper, we present a concept of redox divergent syn-
thesis of fawcettimine-type Lycopodium alkaloids by expanding
our previous synthetic strategy. The present work addresses
representative alkaloids consisting of major core structure A or
B to plainly demonstrate this concept (Figure 1). Our synthetic
study can be placed in “redox divergent synthesis” of fawcetti-
mine-type alkaloids complementing precedent reports of “skel-
etal divergent synthesis”. We herein describe that this strategy
is a general method to access various fawcettimine-type
alkaloids.
[a] Dr. H. Zaimoku, Dr. T. Taniguchi
School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Institute of Medical
Pharmaceutical and Health Sciences, Kanazawa University
Kakuma-machi, Kanazawa, 920-1192 (Japan)
Results and Discussion
An outline of our synthetic strategy is shown below. Diastereo-
Supporting information for this article is available on the WWW under
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/chem.201403163.
selective Diels–Alder reaction between (E)-1-(trimethylsilyloxy)-
Chem. Eur. J. 2014, 20, 9613 – 9619
9613
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