Utilization of a Benzoyl Migration To Effect an Expeditious Synthesis of the Paclitaxel C-13 Side Chain

A benzoyl migration has been used to remove two steps during the asymmetric dihydroxylation literature route to (2 R,3 S )- N -benzoyl-3-phenylisoserine, the C-13 position side chain of paclitaxel. The modification provides the product as its more desirable methyl ester in similar overall yields with no loss of enantiomeric purity when scaled up to multigram quantities.