IntroductionIn 1978, harringtonolide (1, Figure 1) was isolated from the seeds of Cephalotaxus harringtonia (Taxaceae). The structure of this diterpenoid tropone was established by X-ray crystallographic investigations. [1] Approximately at the same time, a group of Chinese scientists [2] led by Liang and Huang reported the isolation of 1 (named as hainanolide) from the bark of the related Chinese species Cephalotaxus hainanensis as well as its structural characterization. Harringtonolide was shown to inhibit plant growth in tobaccos and beans and to cause necrosis under certain conditions. Moreover, it was found to have antineoplastic and antiviral properties. [3,4] In addition to 1, the groups of Liang [5] and then Tang [9] discovered from hainanensis hainanolidol (2), a closely related but biologically inactive carbinol, which was converted into 1 by transannular oxidation by treatment with lead tetraacetate.
Results and DiscussionRetrosynthetic Analysis of Harringtonolide Mander, [6] Huang, [7] Nay, [8] and Tang [9] have reported the total syntheses or synthetic studies of 1, specifically, Mander and co-workers [6c] adopted Rh-mediated cyclopropanation and ring-expansion reaction as the key step, and Tang and co-workers [9] constructed the tropone by an intramolecular oxidopyrylium-based [5+2] cycloaddition, Although progress has been made in studies of 1, there still exists strong demand in developing new efficient synthetic approaches to this molecule in order to launch further biological studies. Our retrosynthetic analysis is outlined in Scheme 1. We envisaged that 1 could be obtained in several steps including epoxidation, endo-ring opening of an epoxide, and lactonization from tetracycle 3, which should be accessible from 4 via an intramolecular Diels-Alder reaction (IMDA) and subsequent cycloheptatrienone formation. Compound 4 could be synthesized by a [4+3] cycloaddition from ester 5, which could be derived from ketone 6. [10] Herein, we report our synthetic efforts toward harringtonolide (1).Abstract: An efficient synthesis of an oxo-bridged 7/6-bicyclic precursor that is potentially useful for the construction of harringtonolide has been realized through a [4+3] cycloaddition reaction. Meanwhile, an unexpected rearrangement reaction, which could be used for the fast assembly of spirocycles, was found during the double elimination attempts.[a] Dr.