A versatile strategy involving a sequential intermolecular enyne metathesis of C-alkynyl glycosides with ethylene, Diels-Alder, and aromatization reactions is successfully developed to provide a range of C-aryl glycosides. [reaction: see text]

A new class of sugar-oxasteroid-quinone hybrid molecules has been designed and synthesized involving an efficient enyne metathesis/Diels-Alder reaction strategy.

A direct one-pot Cu-catalyzed biomimetic oxidation of methyl ketones to pharmaceutically important N-heterocyclic amides is reported. The scope of the method is broad, scalable, and mild, and the reaction is tolerant with various acid, base sensitive functionalities with multiple heteroatoms and aryl halides. The extensive mechanistic studies suggest that this reaction follows the Luciferin-Luciferase-like pathway.

A concise and highly enantioselective route has been developed for the synthesis of angucyclinone-type natural products. Utilizing this strategy, total syntheses of five natural products YM-181741, (+)-ochromycinone, (+)-rubiginone B2, (-)-tetrangomycin, and MM-47755 have been accomplished in 22%, 23%, 19%, 18%, and 12% overall yields, respectively. Our approach for the synthesis of these natural products having the benz[a]anthraquinone skeleton is based on a sequential intramolecular enyne metathesis, intermolecular Diels-Alder reaction (DAR), and aromatization. The intramolecular enyne metathesis reaction was employed for the synthesis of enantiopure 1,3-dienes in excellent yields. Furthermore, the synthesis of YM-181741 as well as structurally similar angucyclinones such as (+)-ochromycinone and (+)-rubiginone B2 was achieved via asymmetric enolate alkylation of an oxazolidinone in excellent de. The related angucyclinones (-)-tetrangomycin and MM-47755, bearing a labile tertiary alcohol, were synthesized via Sharpless asymmetric epoxidation of a known allylic alcohol followed by opening the epoxide with Red-Al. The introduction of oxygen functionality at C-1 in all these natural products was accomplished by photooxygenation under a positive pressure of oxygen.

An enantioselective route for the synthesis of oxatetracyclic core of platensimycin is reported for the first time using a 5-exo-trig cyclization followed by intramolecular etherification as key reactions. The requisite dienynone for the radical cyclization is synthesized in eight steps from the Wieland-Miescher ketone employing a Claisen rearrangement.