Chemoenzymatic asymmetric total synthesis of nonanolide (Z)-cytospolides D, E and their stereoisomers

Abstract

Chemoenzymatic asymmetric total synthesis of the (Z)-isomer of the naturally occurring decanolide cytospolides D, E and six stereoisomers is reported. The main highlight of the synthetic venture involves ring-closing metathesis (RCM) reaction of a suitably functionalized ester compound, which was assembled by the Yamaguchi coupling of the required acid and alcohol fragments. The alcohol fragment was ac- cessed by two alternative chemoenzymatic processes, one being hydroxynitrile lyase mediated hydrocyanation, whereas lipase-catalyzed transesterification was the key sep in the second route. The acid fragment was constructed by an enantioselective enzymatic desymmetrization (EED) of prochiral 2-methyl-1,3-propanediol and Corey-Bakshi-Shibata (CBS) mediated stereoselective carbonyl reduction.