The first total synthesis of an (E)-cladiellin diterpene, (-)-cladiella-6,11-diene-3-ol (1), was accomplished featuring an intramolecular amide enolate alkylation-intramolecular Diels-Alder strategy. In addition, a highly stereo-, regio-, and chemoselective synthetic strategy for other members of the cladiellin diterpenes such as (+)-polyanthellin A (2), (-)-cladiell-11-ene-3,6,7-triol (3), and (-)-deacetoxyalcyonin acetate (4) was developed utilizing the synthetic (E)-cladiellin 1 as a common intermediate by taking advantage of the unique chemical properties of its C(6)-(E)-oxatricyclic skeleton.

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The first asymmetric total syntheses of the dihalogenated medium-sized dioxabicyclic marine natural products (+)-3-(Z)-isolaureatin (1) and (+)-3-(Z)-laureatin (2) have been accomplished. Notable features of the highly stereo-, regio-, and chemoselective syntheses of these alpha,alpha'-trans-oxocene natural products include an intramolecular amide enolate alkylation to construct the alpha,alpha'-cis-oxocene, novel "lone pair-lone pair interaction-controlled" epimerizations to the alpha,alpha'-trans-oxocenes, various strategies for stereoselective introduction of halogen atoms, and novel olefin cross-metatheses for construction of the (Z)-enyne systems.

The first and highly stereoselective asymmetric total syntheses of eight-membered ring ether marine natural products (+)-3-(E)-pinnatifidenyne and (+)-3-(Z)-pinnatifidenyne have been accomplished. Notable features of our syntheses include a novel and efficient construction of oxocene 5 by a highly stereo- and regioselective internal alkylation and direct ketone synthesis of ketone 16 from the alpha-alkyloxy amide moiety in oxocene 5.

The first asymmetric total synthesis of (-)-laurefucin (1), a unique C-15 acetogenin with a 2,8-dioxabicyclo[5.2.1]decane skeleton, has been accomplished in nine steps in 31% overall yield from known oxocene 10. Highlights of the highly stereoselective synthesis include a novel organoselenium-mediated biomimetic hydroxyetherification.

[structure: see text] The first asymmetric total synthesis of a potential antitumor phenanthroindolizidine alkaloid, (-)-antofine, is described. An important feature of this synthesis is the creation of a stereogenic center by using enantioselective catalytic phase transfer alkylation, affording an unnatural alpha-amino acid derivative, together with a ring closing metathesis for pyrrolidine ring construction.

The asymmetric total syntheses of the representative phenanthroindolizidine and phenanthroquinolizidine alkaloids, (-)-antofine and (-)-cryptopleurine, are described. An efficient synthetic pathway to the key intermediate 12, in enantiomerically pure form, was achieved by using a chiral building block (R)-9 and the Overman rearrangement with a total transfer of chirality. The problem of constructing the pyrrolidine and piperidine rings was successfully addressed, primarily by using a ring-closing metathesis reaction and a cross-metathesis reaction, respectively.

The synthesis of naturally occurring d-erythro-sphingosine and synthetically useful D-erythro-2-azidosphingosine from commercially available d-ribo-phytosphingosine is described. An important feature of this synthesis is the selective transformation of the 3,4-vicinal diol of phytosphingosine into the characteristic E-allylic alcohol of sphingosine via a cyclic sulfate intermediate.