A total synthesis of the naturally occurring ionophore zincophorin has been realized. The route features an intramolecular oxymercuration of a cyclopropanemethanol and a Carroll-Claisen rearrangement for the respective elaboration of the C1-C12 and C13-C25 subunits, which have been assembled by using a highly diastereoselective titanium-mediated aldol condensation.

[reaction: see text]. A convergent total synthesis of the methyl ester of zincophorin, an ionophore antibiotic, has been realized relying on a diastereoselective titanium-mediated aldol coupling between the C1-C12 and C13-C25 subunits. The latter fragment was prepared by using a Carroll-Claisen rearrangement.

The mercury(II)-mediated electrophilic ring-opening reaction of various cyclopropylcarbinol derivatives bearing adjacent stereocenters and a remote nucleophilic functional group provides a useful strategy for synthesizing compounds bearing several contiguous stereocenters. These highly diastereoselective reactions occur with anchimeric assistance by the internal nucleophilic moiety and afford synthetically valuable building blocks such as polypropionate units or heterocyclic compounds. The application of cyclopropylcarbinol ring-opening for the preparation of functionalized oxygen heterocycles in natural product synthesis is also outlined.