Enantioselective and Collective Total Syntheses of Xanthanolides

An enantioselective synthesis of (+)-8-epi-xanthatin hinging on a chiral phosphoric acid catalyzed tandem allylboration/lactonization reaction is reported. With (+)-8-epi-xanthatin as the precursor, the collective synthesis of a series of synthetically challenging xanthanolides was also accomplished. Among them, xanthipungolide, one of the most complex xanthanolide monomers, was accessed through a bioinspired tandem double-bond isomerization/6π electronic cyclization/intramolecular Diels-Alder reaction, and pungiolides A, B, D, E, and L-N, a group of xanthanolide dimers, were assembled through a bioinspired Diels-Alder dimerization followed by late-stage diversification.