Recent Applications of Cyclopropane-Based Strategies to Natural Product Synthesis

Activated cyclopropanes show versatile reactivity and are therefore powerful building blocks in organic chemistry and natural product synthesis. This review focuses on recent applications of cyclopropane-based approaches to the syntheses of natural products. These applications include diverse processes involving cyclopropanation–ring-opening–cyclization or ring expansion to form key natural product skeletons. 1 Introduction 2 Formal Cycloaddition Strategies 2.1 Formal [3+2] Cycloaddition with Aldehydes and Ketones 2.2 Formal [4+3] Cycloaddition via Cope Rearrangement 2.3 Cycloaddition with Transition Metals 3 Cyclopropanation–Ring-Opening Strategies 4 Cyclopropanation–Ring-Opening–Cyclization Strategies 5 Ring Closing via Cyclopropanation 6 Conclusion