Determination of the Absolute Stereochemistry of (-)-Galbonolide A

The absolute stereochemistry of (-)-galbonolide A (1) was assigned by chemical methods. First, 1 was degraded to diol 3. After selective silylation of the primary alcohol, two independent methods were carried out to determine the chirality at C13. Both established its S-configuration. Using the methodology developed in the total synthesis of (-)-galbonolide B, diols 13(S,S) and 13(S,R) were prepared. Their (R)-MTPA esters, 14(S,S,R) and 14(S,R,R), were compared with the analogous (R)-MTPA ester of the degradation product 3, which subsequently established the S-chirality at C8. To determine the chirality at C4, two independent methods were carried out. One involved a comparison with the chirality of C4 of galbonolide B. The other involved a comparison of the degradation product of galbonolide A, 22, with its synthetic equivalents. Both methods confirmed the S-configuration at C4. Since three of the four chiral centers of galbonolides A and B have been confirmed to be identical and since the two galbonolides share very similar conformations as suggested by their (1)H NMR spectra, the configurations at C2 of these two compounds should also be the same.