A new oxygen-centered radicalcyclization onto silylenolethers has been developed and utilized for the synthesis of versatile siloxy-substituted tetrahydrofurans. The reactions display excellent chemoselectivity for cyclization onto the electron-rich silylenolether when competing terminal alkene cyclization, 1,5-hydrogen abstraction, and beta-fragmentation pathways are present. The increased chemoselectivity
The cyclization of nitrogen-centered radicals onto silyl enol ethers is an efficient method for the synthesis of polyhydroxylated alkaloids as the 2-hydroxymethylpyrrolidine core can be readily accessed from a linear precursor. During our studies on the synthesis of polyhydroxylated alkaloid CYB-3, we found that the diastereoselectivity of the cyclization was dependent on a complex combination of sterics