Total Synthesis of the Proposed Structure of Maltepolide C

The first total synthesis of the proposed structure of cytotoxic macrolide maltepolide C has been achieved via an E-selective intramolecular Heck cyclization as a key step. Other key features of the synthesis are Z-selective Wittig olefination, Sharpless asymmetric dihydroxylation followed by Williamson-type cyclo-etherification, Brown asymmetric allylation, and Noyori reduction of an alkynone. Detailed NMR study confirms the structure and stereochemistry of the synthetic maltepolide C unambiguously. However, the deviation of the spectra of the synthetic maltepolide C from those of the natural maltepolide C indicates a possible error in the original structural assignment.