Kainoid amino acids are a unique group of non‐proteinogenic pyrrolidinedicarboxylic acids. The parent member, (–)‐α‐kainic acid (originally known as digenic acid), has attracted considerable interest, largely because of its neuroexcitatory properties, as well as its pronounced insecticidal and anthelmitic activities. Because these activities are strongly due to its stereochemistry, (–)‐α‐kainic acid represents a considerable synthetic challenge, and many groups have therefore reported syntheses of kainic acids, as well as of kainoid analogues. This article is intended to review the total synthesis of kainic acid from 1996 until the end of 2011.
Covering: up to 2015Sesquiterpenoids are consistently attracting the interest of the scientific community due to their promising clinical profile as therapeutic agents. Cycloisomerization of enynes and dienes is a powerful tool in the hands of organic chemists to access them. In the last 20 years the field has witnessed remarkable advances, especially by revealing the capability of platinum and gold complexes to initiate such reactions. Nowadays, cycloisomerizations continue to enrich our knowledge with atom-economical routes and impressive cascades to reach more complex molecules. The current review covers the basic mechanistic aspects of metal catalysis in cycloisomerization reactions and their progress to the synthesis of selected complex sesquiterpenoids.
A wide range of air-stable, solid, polyfunctional aryl and heteroarylzinc pivalates were efficiently prepared by either magnesium insertion or Hal/Mg exchange followed by transmetalation with Zn(OPiv)2 (OPiv = pivalate). By reducing the amount of LiCl the air stability could be significantly enhanced compared with previously prepared reagents. An alternative route is directed magnesiation using TMPMgCl⋅LiCl (TMP = 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidyl) followed by transmetalation with Zn(OPiv)2 or, for very sensitive substrates, direct zincation by using TMPZnOPiv. These zinc reagents not only show excellent stability towards air, but they also undergo a broad range of C-C bond-formation reactions, such as allylation and carbocupration reactions, as well as addition to aldehydes and 1,4-addition reactions. Acylation reactions can be performed by using an excess of TMSCl to overcome side reactions of the omnipresent pivalate anion.
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