With the objective of investigating the influence of structural modifications of the polyketide chain of the bengamides upon their antitumoral activities, we targeted the preparation of bengamide E analogues with modification of the stereochemistry at C-2 and at C-3, the substituent at the C-2 position, and the presence of oxirane rings. For the synthesis of these analogues, a new synthetic method for asymmetric epoxidation, developed in our laboratories, was employed utilizing the chiral sulfonium salts 22 and 23. In order to access 2-epi-bengamide E from these epoxy amides, a synthetic methodology, developed by Miyashita, allowed an oxirane-ring-opening reaction with a double inversion of the configuration. Alternatively, an aldol reaction provided access to the same analogue in a shorter and more efficient manner. Finally, biological evaluation of all of these bengamide E analogues demonstrated that the polyketide chain is essential for the antitumor activity of these natural products, not being amenable to structural or configurational modifications.

A new type of chiral sulfonium salts that are characterized by a bicyclic system has been designed and synthesized from α-amino acids. Their corresponding ylides, which were prepared by basic treatment of the sulfonium salts, reacted smoothly with a broad array of simple and chiral aldehydes to provide trans-epoxy amides in reasonable to very good yields and excellent stereoselectivities (>98%). The obtained epoxy amides were found to be useful as synthetic building blocks. Thus, they were reduced into their corresponding epoxy alcohols and subjected to oxirane-ring-opening reactions with different types of nucleophiles.

New synthetic strategies have been explored for the synthesis of the structural core of liposidomycins and caprazamycins, an intriguing class of complex nucleoside-type antibiotics. This structural core is comprised of a cyclic diazepanone system linked to an uridyl fragment. The various synthetic approaches have in common that they originate from an epoxy amide derived from uridine, obtained via reaction of uridyl aldehyde 19 with an amide-stabilized sulfur ylide. Two different strategies were shown to be efficient in constructing the diazepanone ring system: (a) a reductive amination of an epoxy aldehyde with N-methylamine with subsequent intramolecular oxirane ring opening and (b) a carbene insertion reaction of an acyclic diazoamine precursor.

A new class of chiral sulfonium salts, derived from L‐ and D‐methionine, has been designed and successfully employed in our laboratories for the diastereoselective synthesis of glycidic amides. The epoxy amides obtained were converted cleanly into 1,2‐difunctionalized products through oxirane ring‐opening reactions with different types of nucleophiles. The resulting ring‐opened products represent valuable and useful building blocks for the synthesis of different bioactive products. Thus, the expedient synthesis of clavaminol H as well as the synthesis of key precursors for other bioactive compounds, for example, polyketide‐derived natural products, have been achieved, demonstrating the synthetic efficiency and utility of this chemistry.

Gleason-type chiral auxiliaries were used for the synthesis of a novel class of sulfonium salts, obtained via methylation of the sulfide with Meerwein's salt. The salts were reacted with aldehydes under basic conditions to provide epoxy amides, which were reduced to their corresponding epoxy alcohols in excellent enantiomeric excesses. Interestingly, it was feasible to synthesize both enantiomeric epoxy alcohols depending on which of the sulfonium salts, prepared from L-amino acids (6 and 9 from L-valine or 15 and 16 from L-serine) was employed.