On the Origin of Dolabriferol: Total Synthesis via Its Putative Contiguous Precursor

The putative contiguous polypropionate precursor of dolabriferol was synthesized using as the key step a rationally designed enantiomer-selective aldol coupling (i.e., with kinetic resolution) of a racemic C1-C8 ketone fragment with an enantiopure C9-C15 aldehyde fragment. When exposed to alumina, the precursor was cleanly transformed into dolabriferol via a regioselective retro-Claisen fragmentation, providing the first experimental evidence for the proposed origin of dolabriferol and demonstrating that it is a plausible isolation artifact.