Synthesis of natural products and the development of synthetic methodology: The case study of (-)-atrop-abyssomicin C

Abstract

During our attempt to follow the planned synthetic route to the naturally occurring antibiotic (-)-atrop-abyssomicin C, we encountered two shortcomings, which forced us to reconsider our tactics and find new methods to overcome the problems. These methods turned out to be of general applicability, as demonstrated later in total syntheses of two other natural products: (+)-allokainic acid and (-)-gabosine H. The paper provides a brief account of these endeavors.