Total Synthesis of Echinopines A and B: Exploiting a Bioinspired Late-Stage Intramolecular Cyclopropanation

Total synthesis of echinopine A and B have been accomplished, based on a strategy that involved two transition-metal-mediated ene-yne cycloisomerizations. A modified Pd-catalyzed enyne cycloisomerization/intramolecular Diels-Alder cascade rendered a more streamlined synthesis of tricyclic ketone 15, and a Ru-catalyzed ene-yne cycloisomerization/cyclopropanation resembled the late-stage [5/7] → [3/5/5/7] ring-forming sequence in the proposed biosynthetic pathway.