Ruthenium-catalyzed synthesis of 2,3-cyclo[3]dendralenes and complex polycycles from propargyl alcohols

Abstract

Ruthenium-catalyzed cascade transformations for the synthesis of 2,3-cyclo[3]dendralenes and multicomponent processes based thereon to generate complex polycycles are presented. The combination of allylation-cyclization sequences with diene-transmissive Diels-Alder reactions allows the rapid and selective construction of natural-product-like motifs from easily accessible starting materials in a one-pot process and provides a new method to access potential drug candidates.

Keywords: dendralenes; homogeneous catalysis; molecular complexity; multicomponent reactions; ruthenium.