An Alkyne Strategy for the Asymmetric Synthesis of Natural Products: Application to (+)‐Spirolaxine Methyl Ether

Alkyne of magic: An efficient synthesis of (+)-spirolaxine methyl ether (1) was accomplished by using alkynes as versatile synthetic building blocks. Highlights include two ProPhenol-catalyzed asymmetric alkynylations and a Pd-catalyzed spiroketalization (see scheme; TBS=tert-butyldiphenylsilyl). The use of alkynes alleviates the chemoselectivity issues of ketones and should be widely applicable to natural product synthesis.