3‐Deoxyfortalpinoid F, fortalpinoid A, and cephinoid H are members of the Cephalotaxus diterpenoids class of natural products, which feature diverse chemical structures and valuable biological activities. We report herein the development of a diastereoselective Pauson–Khand reaction as an effective pathway to access the core tetracyclic skeleton, which is found widely in Cephalotaxus diterpenoids. Furthermore, we enabled the construction of the tropone moiety through a ring‐closing metathesis/elimination protocol. Based on the developed strategy, asymmetric synthesis of the title compounds has been achieved for the first time.

Cephalotaxus diterpenoids represent a class of attractive natural products with diverse chemical structures and valuable biological activities. The Construction of tetracyclic core skeleton plays an important role in synthesizing these compounds. We report here the development of diastereoselective Pauson-Khand reactions as an effective strategy to the core structure, which enabled the total synthesis of (+)-3-deoxyfortalpinoid F, (+)-fortalpinoid A, and (+)-cephinoid H.

3‐Deoxyfortalpinoid F, fortalpinoid A, and cephinoid H are members of the Cephalotaxus diterpenoids class of natural products, which feature diverse chemical structures and valuable biological activities. We report herein the development of a diastereoselective Pauson–Khand reaction as an effective pathway to access the core tetracyclic skeleton, which is found widely in Cephalotaxus diterpenoids. Furthermore, we enabled the construction of the tropone moiety through a ring‐closing metathesis/elimination protocol. Based on the developed strategy, asymmetric synthesis of the title compounds has been achieved for the first time.