The photooxygenation of oxazolidinone-substituted enecarbamates leads to diastereomerically pure dioxetanes. The high diastereoselectivity is rationalized in terms of effective pi-facial control achieved by shielding one side of the double bond with the chiral auxiliary. The absolute configuration of the dioxetanes is assigned by derivatization to diols.

The regioisomers (2a,b) of the piperidine ring of febrifugine (1a) and isofebrifugine (1b) were synthesized from 4-allyl-3-piperidone (5). Reduction of 5 afforded a mixture of the trans and cis alcohols (6a,b) without diastereoselectivity; this result differentiated it from the reduction of 2-allyl-3-piperidone (14). The antimalarial activity of 2a,b and related compounds was tested.

ε-Amido-allylindiums generated in situ from N-Ts-4-vinylazetidin-2-ones in the presence of 2 eq. of InI and catalytic amounts of Pd(PPh3)4 react with a number of aromatic and aliphatic aldehydes with effective remote 1,5-stereocontrol to afford (3Z)-2,6-anti-enediols as major products in good yields and with excellent diastereoselectivity.

An intermolecular ring expansion reaction of an aryl epoxide with several dienes, acrylates, enynes or styrenes under iron catalysis, generated tetrahydrofuran derivatives in a highly chemo- and regioselective fashion. The process could be used in an unprecedented way for the one step synthesis of racemic calyxolane A and calyxolane B with acceptable diastereoselectivity.

CF3-containing chiral imines readily react with α,α-difluoroenolates affording a novel type of β-keto-amino compounds featuring the R-CO-CF2-CH(NH2)-CF3 moiety. The reactions feature exceptional generality allowing preparation of various aromatic, hetero-aromatic and aliphatic derivatives in high yields and diastereoselectivity. The products are configurationally stable and can be transformed t...

The intramolecular addition of beta-ketoesters to unactivated alkynes under neutral conditions and at room temperature is described. The method employs triphenylphosphinegold(I) cation as a catalyst for the formation of exo-methylenecycloalkanes. Both monocyclic and bicyclic cyclopentanes and cyclohexanes can be formed in excellent yields and with good diastereoselectivity.

A copper-catalyzed arylation of tryptophan derivatives is reported. The reaction proceeds with high site- and diastereoselectivity to provide aryl pyrroloindoline products in one step from simple starting materials. The utility of this transformation is highlighted in the five-step syntheses of the natural products (+)-naseseazine A and B.

Radical alkylation of 2-(tert-butyl)-2-methyldioxolan-4-one, a chiral equivalent of glycolic acid, occurs with good to high diastereoselectivity that compares favorably with the corresponding enolate alkylation. The importance of the position of the transition state position, early or late, is highlighted.

The development of a new platform to initiate the cascade rearrangement of furans for the formation of functionalized cyclopentenone building blocks is reported. This methodology allows the creation of congested vicinal stereogenic centers with high diastereoselectivity through a 4π-electrocyclization process.

An enantio- and diastereoselective carbonyl-ene reaction catalyzed by chiral scandium pyridyl bis(oxazoline) (pybox) complexes has been developed. Uniformly high enantiomeric excesses and good yields were observed. Use of trisubstituted olefins generated the syn product in high enantio- and diastereoselectivity.