The synthesis of capsanthin 1 was accomplished via the C 15 -cyclopentyl ketone 13 prepared by Lewis acid-promoted regioand stereoselective rearrangement of the epoxide 12.Key words capsanthin; tetrasubstituted epoxide; regio-and stereoselective rearrangement; total synthesis Previously, we reported 1) the first biomimetic type total synthesis of both crassostreaxanthin B 2 (Fig. 1) possessing a novel acyclic-tetrasubstituted olefinic end group and mytiloxanthin 3 containing a cyclopentyl enolic b-diketone group applying stereoselective rearrangement of tetrasubstituted epoxide.2) In these syntheses, we employed epoxides, in which substituents at the C-63) position were alkyl groups having an oxygen functional group as shown in Chart 1.Capsanthin 1 (Fig. 1), having a k-end group, is a main pigment of red paprika Capsicum annuum and has become the center of attention due to its strong antioxidant activities. 4) There has been only one report by Weedon's group 5) concerning its synthesis. Here, we describe the total synthesis of 1 via regio-and stereoselective rearrangement of the C 15 -epoxide 12 (Chart 3) having a conjugated olefinic group at C-6, which was efficiently derived from the optically active (4R,6R)-4-hydroxy-2,2,6-trimethylcyclohexanone. 6) It has been known that the rearrangement of the epoxide 4b 7) (Chart 2) only provided the flanoid 5b by opening of C-6-oxygen bond of the oxirane ring (route a) and subsequent migration of the 7,8-double bond, whereas that of the epoxide 4a 8) predominantly produced the cyclopentyl ketone 6a by cleavage of the oxirane ring at the C-5 position (route b) and successive ring contraction. It is considered that the selective cleavage of epoxide 4a at C-5 was promoted by destabilization of the cation at C-6 due to the electron deficiency of 7(b)-carbon on a,b-unsaturated carbonyl group.Thus, the reaction of epoxides 4c-e 9) having an olefinic group conjugated to a carbonyl group at C-6 (Chart 2) was investigated toward the synthesis of 1. As a result, treatment of the epoxide 4d with SnCl 4 was found to give predominantly the desired cyclopentyl ketone 6d (91%). On the other hand, the reaction of the epoxides 4c and 4e with SnCl 4 preferentially provided flanoids 5c (86%; 5,8-trans 10) : 5,8-cis 10) ϭ8 : 1) and 5e (53%; 5,8-trans : 5,8-cisϭ5 : 1). These results show that the direction of C-O bond cleavage in the oxirane ring depends upon both the length of conjugated double bond system and the electron-withdrawing ability of the substituent adjacent to the double bond.In order to synthesize 1, C 15 -epoxide 12 was prepared via stereo-controlled cross-coupling reaction of the vinylstannane 8 with the vinyl triflate 15 11) as shown in Chart 3. The known 12) terminal alkyne 7, prepared (62%) from (4R,6R)-4-hydroxy-2,2,6-trimethylcyclohexanone, 6) was heated at 130°C for 20 min with an excess amount (4 eq) of Bu 3 SnH in the presence of a catalytic amount of azobisisobutyronitrile (AIBN) 13) to give stereoselectively the E-vinylstannane 8 in 88% yield. Cross-coupling rea...