A dual catalytic system consisting of indium triflate and a chiral imidazolidinone catalyzes the asymmetric addition of aldehydes to N-acyl quinoliniums furnishing optically active dihydroquinolines in good yields and excellent selectivities. The products were further functionalized into optically active tetrahydroquinolines, quinolines and 6-oxa-2-aza-bicyclo[3.3.1]nonanes.

Asymmetric intramolecular Michael reaction catalyzed by an organocatalyst derived from cysteine has been developed for the synthesis of chiral bicyclo[4.3.0]nonene and cis-disubstituted cyclopentane skeletons with a creation of three or two contiguous chiral centers in good yield with high diastereo- and excellent enantioselectivities.

The combination of aminocatalysis with N-heterocyclic carbene catalysis has been extended to a switchable dual catalytic system, which allowed a direct enantioselective entry to bridged bicyclo[3.n.1] ring systems and the total synthesis of the natural product (1R)-suberosanone.

Strain-promoted oxidation-controlled cyclooctyne-1,2-quinone cycloaddition (SPOCQ) between functionalized bicyclo[6.1.0]non-4-yne (BCN) and surface-bound quinones revealed an unprecedented 100 % conjugation efficiency. In addition, monitoring by direct analysis in real time mass spectrometry (DART-MS) revealed the underlying kinetics and activation parameters of this immobilization process in d...

We here describe a new palladium-catalyzed oxidative 6-exo-trig cyclization of 1,6-enynes at room temperature using tBuONO as an oxidant for the synthesis of 3-bicyclo[4.1.0]heptan-5-ones. This cascade strategy involves the hydration, cyclization and cyclopropanation sequence, and represents a new transition-metal-catalyzed oxidative cyclization of 1,6-enynes in a 6-exo-trig fashion.

[reaction: see text] A conceptually new and highly versatile approach to bicyclo[5.3.0]decanes, based on dichloroketene cycloaddition-diazoalkane ring expansion, is disclosed, and its relevance to natural product synthesis is demonstrated through the preparation of three guaiane sesquiterpenes. A concise total synthesis of a guaian-8,12-olide, 6-deoxygeigerin, highlights the effectiveness of th...

A modular, 18-step total synthesis of hyperforin is described. The natural product was quickly accessed using latent symmetry elements, whereby a group-selective, Lewis acid-catalyzed epoxide-opening cascade cyclization was used to furnish the bicyclo[3.3.1]nonane core and set two key quaternary stereocenters.

A series of ethanodiazapolycenes were prepared in 87%-89% yields by Friedländer reactions of three o-aminoarenecarbaldehydes with bicyclo[2.2.2]octane-2,5-dione and their spectral, thermal, and structural properties were studied. Subsequent attempts to convert them to diazapolycenes have proved unsuccessful.

The first total synthesis of (+)-mucosin has been completed allowing assignment of the absolute stereochemistry of the natural product. A zirconium induced co-cyclisation was utilised to install the correct stereochemistry of the four contiguous stereocentres around the unusual bicyclo[4.3.0]nonene core.

Readily accessible alk-5-enylidenecyclopropanes undergo [3 + 2] intramolecular cycloaddition reactions upon treatment with appropriate palladium complexes. The method allows the rapid and efficient assembly of a variety of bicyclo[3.3.0]octane systems with up to three stereocenters. Preliminary theoretical calculations uncovered previously unsuspected mechanistic possibilities based on either a...