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Updated: Aug 18, 2026

Efficient Construction of Drug-like Bispirocyclic Scaffolds Via Organocatalytic Cycloadditions of α-Imino γ-Lactones and Alkylidene Pyrazolones
Published on: February 7, 2019
Postulated biogenesis of WS9885B and progress toward an enantioselective synthesis
C D Vanderwal1, D A Vosburg, S Weiler
1Skaggs Institute for Chemical Biology, La Jolla, California 92037, USA.
Abstract:
[formula: see text] WS9885B promotes the assembly of microtubules in vitro and displays cytotoxicity as potent as paclitaxel against several cancer cell lines. In this Letter, we propose a biogenesis for this architecturally complex bacterial metabolite from a much simpler, polyunsaturated precursor. We also present significant progress toward a convergent, enantioselective synthesis of WS9885B. Our work features a chemoselective palladium-catalyzed cross-coupling of two advanced building blocks and an uncommon Claisen-like cyclization.
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