Rapid, high-yield synthesis of the marine sesquiterpenes debromoaplysin and aplysin via the acid-catalyzed rearrangement of a cyclobutachromanol
作者:Asok Nath、Arun Ghosh、Ramanathapuram V. Venkateswaran
DOI:10.1021/jo00031a026
日期:1992.2
A short, stereocontrolled, high-yield synthesis of debromoaplysin (1) and aplysin (2) from the chromone 13 is described. The cycloaddition of ethylene to 13, followed by the addition of methylmagnesium iodide to the cycloadduct, furnished the cyclobutachromanol 15. Treatment of 15 in benzene with BF3.Et2O furnished a mixture of the alkenes 16 and 17, which can be visualized as arising by way of the initial 1,2-migration of the external and internal bonds, respectively, of the cyclobutane ring of 15. Similar rearrangement of 18, an ethyl analogue of 15, yielded 19 and 20. Rearrangement of 15 on treatment with sulfuric acid in petroleum ether at -78-degrees-C furnished, almost exclusively, 17. In contrast, when performed in nitroethane at -78-degrees-C, the same reaction afforded 16 exclusively. Thus, the solvent exerted a remarkable effect on the outcome of the rearrangement. Since alkene 16 had previously been converted to 1 and 2, this work represents an improved synthesis of the two sesquiterpenes.