Toward the total synthesis of variecolin

G A Molander1, M S Quirmbach, L F Silva

  • 1Roy and Diana Vagelos Laboratories, Department of Chemistry, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104-6323, USA. gmolandr@sas.upenn.edu

Organic Letters
|July 21, 2001
PubMed

Related Concept Videos

Synthesis and Decomposition Reactions02:17

Synthesis and Decomposition Reactions

Synthesis and decomposition are two types of redox reactions. Synthesis means to make something, whereas decomposition means to break something. The reactions are accompanied by chemical and energy changes.
Synthesis of α-Substituted Carbonyl Compounds: The Stork Enamine Reaction01:26

Synthesis of α-Substituted Carbonyl Compounds: The Stork Enamine Reaction

α-Substituted ketones or aldehydes can be synthesized from enamines by the Stork enamine reaction, named after its pioneer Gilbert Stork. Enamines are useful synthetic intermediates where the lone pair on nitrogen is in conjugation with the C=C bond. They resemble enolate ions, as the resonance forms of both species have a nucleophilic α carbon.
Photochemical Electrocyclic Reactions: Stereochemistry01:26

Photochemical Electrocyclic Reactions: Stereochemistry

The absorption of UV–visible light by conjugated systems causes the promotion of an electron from the ground state to the excited state. Consequently, photochemical electrocyclic reactions proceed via the excited-state HOMO rather than the ground-state HOMO. Since the ground- and excited-state HOMOs have different symmetries, the stereochemical outcome of electrocyclic reactions depends on the mode of activation; i.e., thermal or photochemical.
Selection Rules: Photochemical Activation
Cycloaddition Reactions: Overview01:16

Cycloaddition Reactions: Overview

Cycloadditions are one of the most valuable and effective synthesis routes to form cyclic compounds. These are concerted pericyclic reactions between two unsaturated compounds resulting in a cyclic product with two new σ bonds formed at the expense of π bonds. The [4 + 2] cycloaddition, known as the Diels–Alder reaction, is the most common. The other example is a [2 + 2] cycloaddition.
[3,3] Sigmatropic Rearrangement of 1,5-Dienes: Cope Rearrangement01:21

[3,3] Sigmatropic Rearrangement of 1,5-Dienes: Cope Rearrangement

The Cope rearrangement is classified as a [3,3] sigmatropic shift in 1,5-dienes, leading to a more stable, isomeric 1,5-diene. The reaction involves a concerted movement of six electrons, four from two π bonds and two from a σ bond, via an energetically favorable chair-like transition state.
Aryldiazonium Salts to Azo Dyes: Diazo Coupling01:11

Aryldiazonium Salts to Azo Dyes: Diazo Coupling

The reaction of weakly electrophilic aryldiazonium (also called arenediazonium) salts with highly activated aromatic compounds leads to the formation of products with an —N=N— link, called an azo linkage. This reaction, presented in Figure 1, is known as diazo coupling and occurs without the loss of the nitrogen atoms of the aryldiazonium salt. Highly activated aromatic compounds such as phenols or arylamines favor the diazo coupling reaction. The coupling generally occurs at the para position.