The development of a cost-effective process for the production of artemisinin, the precursor of all artemisininderived drugs, the first-line treatment for malaria, has been a long-pursued endeavor. The breakthrough achievement of coaxing genetically engineered yeast to express Artemisia annua genes for the commercial production of artemisinic acid, an advanced intermediate in the synthesis of artemisinin, has yet to fully realize an affordable malaria treatment for the poor because of the lack of a cost-effective chemical conversion into artemisinin. We describe herein a commercially feasible and pragmatic synthesis of artemisinin from amorpha-4,11-diene, an early-stage intermediate produced in 2-fold higher molar yield than engineered yeast cells can process into artemisinic acid. The key to this novel approach is an exceedingly effective functionalization of the isopropenyl group of amorphadiene via endo-epoxyamorphadiene to give dihydroartemisinic acid, which upon esterification followed by oxidation and cyclicization furnishes pure artemisinin in approximately 60% yield.

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