An Abiotic Strategy for the Enantioselective Synthesis of Erythromycin B

Sweet success: The classical approach to macrolide antibiotics involves a macrocyclization followed by the introduction of the carbohydrate residue(s). Now for the first time, a glycosylated seco-acid (see scheme, left) was cyclized to give an intermediate that was converted into a naturally occurring macrolide, as exemplified by the synthesis of erythromycin B (right).