Ingenol is a diterpenoid with unique architecture and has derivatives possessing important anticancer activity, including the recently Food and Drug Administration-approved Picato, a first-in-class drug for the treatment of the precancerous skin condition actinic keratosis. Currently, that compound is sourced inefficiently from Euphorbia peplus. Here, we detail an efficient, highly stereocontrolled synthesis of (+)-ingenol proceeding in only 14 steps from inexpensive (+)-3-carene and using a two-phase design. This synthesis will allow for the creation of fully synthetic analogs of bioactive ingenanes to address pharmacological limitations and provides a strategic blueprint for chemical production. These results validate two-phase terpene total synthesis as not only an academic curiosity but also a viable alternative to isolation or bioengineering for the efficient preparation of polyoxygenated terpenoids at the limits of chemical complexity.

Although molybdenum alkylidyne complexes such as 1 endowed with triarylsilanolate ligands are excellent catalysts for alkyne metathesis, they can encounter limitations when (multiple) protic sites are present in a given substrate and/or when forcing conditions are necessary. In such cases, a catalyst formed in situ upon mixing of the trisamidomolybenum alkylidyne complex 3 and the readily available trisilanol derivatives 8 or 11 shows significantly better performance. This two-component system worked well for a series of model compounds comprising primary, secondary or phenolic -OH groups, as well as for a set of challenging (bis)propargylic substrates. Its remarkable efficiency is also evident from applications to the total syntheses of manshurolide, a highly strained sesquiterpene lactone with kinase inhibitory activity, and the structurally demanding immunosuppressive cyclodiyne ivorenolide A; in either case, the standard catalyst 1 largely failed to effect the critical macrocyclization, whereas the two-component system was fully operative. A study directed toward the quinolizidine alkaloid lythrancepine I features yet another instructive example, in that a triyne substrate was metathesized with the help of 3/11 such that two of the triple bonds participated in ring closure, while the third one passed uncompromised. As a spin-off of this project, a much improved ruthenium catalyst for the redox isomerization of propargyl alcohols to the corresponding enones was developed

The complex diterpenoid (+)-ingenol possesses a uniquely challenging scaffold and constitutes the core of a recently approved anti-cancer drug. This full account details the development of a short synthesis of 1 that takes place in two separate phases (cyclase and oxidase) as loosely modeled after terpene biosynthesis. Initial model studies establishing the viability of a Pauson-Khand approach to building up the carbon framework are recounted. Extensive studies that led to the development of a 7-step cyclase phase to transform (+)-3-carene into a suitable tigliane-type core are also presented. A variety of competitive pinacol rearrangements and cyclization reactions were overcome to develop a 7-step oxidase phase producing (+)-ingenol. The pivotal pinacol rearrangement is further examined through DFT calculations, and implications for the biosynthesis of (+)-ingenol are discussed.

An expeditious route to the potential immunosuppressive lead compound ivorenolide B (1) is described, which relies on the formation of the distinctive 1,3-diyne subunit embedded into the 17-membered framework of this target by ring-closing alkyne metathesis (RCAM). This key transformation was accomplished with the aid of the molybdenum alkylidyne complex 7, which turned out to be compatible with the acid sensitive propargylic alcohol substituents as well as the terminal alkyne unit present in the cyclization precursor. As the presence of such functionality had been detrimental for alkyne metathesis until very recently, this example illustrates the excellent application profile of this new catalyst as well as the rapidly increasing scope of the transformation. Its structural outreach can be further increased by subjecting cyclo-1,3-diynes to appropriate post-metathetic transformations, most notably with the help of alkynophilic gold or palladium catalysts. This aspect is illustrated by the conversion of the model compound 4 into various cyclophane products.

The chemical inertness of abundant and commercially available alkyl chlorides precludes their widespread use as reactants in chemical transformations. Presented in this work is a metallaphotoredox methodology to achieve the catalytic intramolecular reductive cyclization of unactivated alkyl chlorides with tethered alkenes. The cleavage of strong C(sp 3 )−Cl bonds is mediated by a highly nucleophilic low‐valent cobalt or nickel intermediate generated by visible‐light photoredox reduction employing a copper photosensitizer. The high basicity and multidentate nature of the ligands are key to obtaining efficient metal catalysts for the functionalization of unactivated alkyl chlorides.