A formal total synthesis of (-)-taxol by a convergent approach utilizing Pd-catalyzed intramolecular alkenylation is described. Formation of the eight-membered carbocyclic ring has been a problem in the convergent total synthesis of taxol but it was solved by the Pd-catalyzed intramolecular alkenylation of a methyl ketone affording the cyclized product in excellent yield (97 %), indicating the high efficiency of the Pd-catalyzed intramolecular alkenylation. Rearrangement of the epoxy benzyl ether through a 1,5-hydride shift, generating the C3 stereogenic center and subsequently forming the C1-C2 benzylidene, was discovered and utilized in the preparation of a substrate for the Pd-catalyzed reaction.

The fine structures of Fc N-glycan modulate the biological functions and physicochemical properties of antibodies. By remodeling N-glycan to obtain a homogeneous glycoform or chemically modified glycan, antibody characteristics can be controlled or modified. Such remodeling can be achieved by transglycosylation reactions using a mutant of endoglycosidase from Streptococcus pyogenes (Endo-S) and glycan oxazoline. In this study, we generated improved mutants of Endo-S by introducing additional mutations to the D233Q mutant. Notably, Endo-S D233Q/Q303L, D233Q/E350Q, and several other mutations resulted in transglycosylation efficiencies exceeding 90%, with a single-digit donor-to-substrate ratio of five, and D233Q/Y402F/D405A and several other mutations resulted in slightly reduced transglycosylation efficiencies accompanied by no detectable hydrolysis activity for 48 h. We further demonstrated that the combined use of mutants of Endo-S with Endo-M or Endo-CC, endoglycosidases from Mucor hiemalis and Coprinopsis cinerea, enables one-pot transglycosylation from sialoglycopeptide to antibodies. This novel reaction enables glycosylation remodeling of antibodies, without the chemical synthesis of oxazoline in advance or in situ.

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Highly enantioselective reduction of five-, six-, seven-, and eight-membered prochiral 1,3-cycloalkanediones possessing a methyl group and a protected hydroxymethyl group at their C2 position with baker's yeast or CBS catalyst and a new efficient and general method for preparing the 1,3-cycloalkanediones have been developed. These baker's yeast mediated reductions were found to produce corresponding ketols with high optical purity (>99% ee) and high yield. All of the prepared ketols and their derivatives, chiral building blocks, have been fully characterized, and their absolute configurations have been determined. These compounds would be useful for the convergent synthesis of complex natural products.