The bis-guanidinium ion family of natural products are revered for their utility in the study of ion channel physiology. While many congeners have been isolated with various oxidation and sulfation patterns, only two members of this family have been isolated bearing a carbon–carbon bond at C11, namely 11-saxitoxinethanoic acid and zetekitoxin AB. Herein we described a synthetic platform capable of efficiently targeting (+)-saxitoxin and 11-saxitoxinethanoic acid with an embedded C11 carbon–carbon bond. We demonstrate that this strategy enables direct enolate coupling in both an inter- and intramolecular fashion to create the C11–C15 carbon–carbon bond.

A synthesis of the 1,2-isoxazolidine fragment of the potent voltage gated sodium channel blocker, zetekitoxin AB is described. The synthesis utilizes an intramolecular nitrone –olefin 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition to establish the stereochemistry of the cis-1,2-isoxazolidine. The oxidative cleavage of an all anti-triol with the excision of the central carbon is central to using α-D-glucopyranoside as a traceless stereochemical template. This route furnishes a suitably protected synthon for the synthesis of zetekitoxin AB.

A powerful tris­(4-bromophenyl)­aminium hexachloro­antimonate (BAHA) mediated regioselective intermolecular coupling reaction of vindoline with a wide range of substrates that include β-ketoesters, β-diketones, β-ketoaldehydes, β-ketonitriles, β-ketolactones, β-ketolactams, β-cyanoesters, and malononitriles is detailed. The BAHA-promoted intermolecular sp3/sp2 coupling, representing a special class of selective C–H functionalization reactions with direct carbon–carbon bond formation, proceeds with generation of a quaternary center bound to the aryl C15 center of vindoline capable of accommodating of the vinblastine C16′ methyl ester and functionalized for subsequent divergent heterocycle introduction. A comprehensive examination of the reaction scope, optimization of subtle reaction parameters, and key insights into the reaction mechanism are described. Contrary to what might be prevailing expectations, studies suggest the plausible mechanism entails initial single-electron oxidation of the substrate enolate, not vindoline, and subsequent regiospecific addition of the resulting electrophilic radical to vindoline. As such and beyond the new arylation reaction with vindoline, the studies define a host of new, previously unrecognized, applications of BAHA and related triarylaminium radical cations that arises from their ability to generate stabilized electrophilic radicals from β-ketoesters and related substrates under nonreducing and metal-free conditions. Those exemplified herein include mediating stabilized enolate free radical arylation, dimerization, allylation, alkene addition, and α-oxidation reactions.