Protecting-group-free synthesis of (+)-ent-kauradienone and (À)-jungermannenone C has been accomplished through sequential applications of three radical-based reactions, including late-stage photoinduced skeletal rearrangements of bicyclo[3.2.1]octene ring systems. Further investigations on various terpenoids showed good functional-group tolerance and suggest that some terpenoids could also be produced via such photoinduced rearrangements pathways in nature. Our work demonstrates how paying more attention to unconventional radical mechanisms can reveal new chemistries that facilitate the synthesis of complex natural products.
Reported is the first scalable synthesis of rac-jungermannenones B and C starting from the commercially available and inexpensive geraniol in 10 and 9 steps, respectively. The unique jungermannenone framework is rapidly assembled by an unprecedented regioselective 1,6-dienyne reductive cyclization reaction which proceeds through a vinyl radical cyclization/allylic radical isomerization mechanism. DFT calculations explain the high regioselectivity observed in the 1,6-dienyne reductive radical cyclization.
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