Formal Synthesis of Pseudolaric Acid B
Formal Synthesis of Pseudolaric Acid B: N. Mori
Synlett 2020, 31, DOI: 10.1055/s-0039-1690829
Pseudolaric acids constitute a family of tricyclic lactones endowed with a broad range of biological activities spanning from anticancer to antifungal. These compounds have been isolated from the root bark of Pseudolarix trees and have attracted considerable attention from the organic synthesis community, which resulted in three total syntheses of two members of the pseudolaric acid family, A and B. Recently, Dr. Naoki Mori from the Research Foundation ITSUU Laboratory (Kawasaki, Japan) described a novel strategy for preparing a known synthetic intermediate of pseudolaric acid B in 17 steps, which can be converted into the target molecule in six further steps.
Dr. Mori said: “An efficient formal synthesis of pseudolaric acid B, a complex diterpene natural product, was achieved by using a Claisen rearrangement and iodoetherification to construct quaternary stereocenters, and ring-closing metathesis to form the seven-membered ring as the key steps."
