10.1016/j.tet.2010.10.076
The research aimed to develop enantioselective divergent approaches for the synthesis of (-)-platensimycin and (-)-platencin, two new class antibiotics with potent activity against multi-resistant bacteria such as MRSA and VRE. The researchers designed a chiral synthetic intermediate with a useful a,b-unsaturated sulfone functionality, which served as a masked ketone and a good Michael acceptor. This intermediate was prepared via a highly enantioselective catalytic asymmetric intramolecular cyclopropanation (CAIMCP) developed in their laboratory. The CAIMCP of a-diazo-b-keto sulfone with CuOTf and bisoxazoline ligand 6 successfully afforded cyclopropane derivatives with high enantiomeric excess. The key intermediate 11 was used to synthesize both (-)-platensimycin and (-)-platencin through different synthetic pathways. The formal enantioselective total syntheses of both compounds were achieved, proving the applicability of the uniquely functionalized tricyclo[4.4.0.0]decene derivative and the usefulness of the CAIMCP in natural product synthesis. The study concluded that the developed chiral intermediate enabled the total syntheses of both antibiotics and could be useful for preparing their new derivatives and congeners.