Highly Enantioselective, Organocatalytic, and Scalable Synthesis of a Rare cis,cis-Tricyclic Diterpenoid

Abstract

A highly enantioselective, organocatalytic, and scalable synthesis of a very unusual cis-decalin-cis-hydrindane tricyclic diterpenoid system has been achieved. Despite the prevalent pharmacological space that the related trans,trans and trans,cis-systems occupy, there have been no reports of an asymmetric synthesis of the cis,cis systems in the literature until now. We demonstrate the flexibility of our approach not only through access to a diverse range of products, all of which are attained in exceptionally high selectivities, but also by showing their easy conversion to the corresponding trans,cis-system and other derivatives.

Keywords: asymmetric synthesis; decalin; hydrindane; organocatalysis; terpenes.