This review article highlights recent progress on their sources, bioactivities, biosynthetic hypotheses and total chemical syntheses of naturally occurring [4 + 2] type terpenoid dimers.

The synthetic study toward highly enantio-and diastereoselective synthesis of the tricyclic framework of 12-epi-JBIR-23/24, a natural product analogue showing inhibitory activity against four malignant pleural mesothelioma cell lines, is presented herein. In this synthesis, a rhodium-catalyzed asymmetric three-component Michael/aldol reaction introduces three consecutive tertiary carbon centers, while the unique epoxyquinol core motif is successfully forged via [3,3]-sigmatropic rearrangement of an allylic xanthate, vinylogous Pummerer rearrangement, and a selective mesylation/epoxidation cascade of a triol.

A synthetic study toward the BCDEF core skeleton of andilesin C is presented. Key elements involved iron-promoted intramolecular perezone-type [5 + 2] cycloaddition to install the BCD ring system simultaneously in a one-step, copper-catalyzed intramolecular cyclopropanation followed by BiCl3-promoted retro-aldol reaction to construct ring E and a one-pot manipulation involving reduction, lactonization, and isomerization to introduce the lactone ring F. We finally synthesized the congested BCDEF ring system of andilesin C, featuring four quaternary centers and two tertiary centers, by following a strategy with a 15-pot reaction and 11 purification operations.