Total Synthesis of Natural Products with Bridged Bicyclom.n.1 Ring Systems via Type II 5 + 2 Cycloaddition

Natural products containing bridged ring systems are widely identified and show significant biological activity. The development of efficient synthesis reactions and strategies to construct bridged ring systems is a long-standing but very significant challenge in organic chemistry. In 2014, our group developed a unique type II 5 + 2 cycloaddition reaction that provides a facile and direct methodology for constructing highly functionalized bridged bicyclo4.3.1, bicyclo4.4.1, bicyclo5.4.1, bicyclo6.4.1, and other bicyclom.n.1 systems containing a strained bridgehead double bond. In this Account, we summarize the methodology development and report the results of application of our unique strategy for the total synthesis of several natural products with bridged ring systems (i.e., cyclocitrinol, cerorubenic acid-III, and vinigrol) during the past 5 years in our laboratory. In the first part, we introduce the logic behind the design and discovery of type II 5 + 2 cycloadditions. The substrates can be easily synthesized by a modular approach, followed by base-promoted group elimination under heat to form an oxidopyrylium ylide, which can undergo cycloaddition under relatively mild conditions with a variety of double bonds to generate bridged bicyclom.n.1 frameworks in high yield. The diastereocontrol and unique endo selectivity of this methodology are favorable for further application to the synthesis of complex natural products. In the second part, we highlight our endeavors in the total synthesis of several different types of molecules bearing bridged ring systems using our methodology. The bridged bicyclo4.4.1 system is the core structure of two different types of natural products, cyclocitrinol and cerorubenic acid-III, that can be efficiently constructed by type II 5 + 2 cycloadditions. The development of suitable strategies and methods for site-selective cleavage of the C-O bond of the oxa-3.2.1 ring system in the products of type II 5 + 2 cycloadditions is also discussed and highlighted during the syntheses. Moreover, the bridged bicyclo5.3.1 system is the core structure of vinigrol, which can be constructed through a novel ring contraction sequence of the bicyclo5.4.1 system formed by a type II 5 + 2 cycloaddition. By combining with a ring contraction cascade, we believe that type II 5 + 2 cycloadditions have the potential to be used as a unified approach to constructing natural products containing bridged bicyclom.n.1 frameworks.