Formal Total Syntheses of the β-Lactam Antibiotics Thienamycin and PS-5

Chiral nonracemic acetylenic acids of general structure 11, prepared using the Schreiber modification of the Nicholas reaction, have been converted to β-amino acid derivatives of type 12 by a two-step sequence involving Curtius rearrangement followed by oxidative cleavage of the acetylenic bond. Amino acid derivatives 12 are excellent precursors for β-lactams of the carbapenem class, including the important antibiotics thienamycin ( 1 ) and PS-5 ( 4 ).