Total Synthesis of (+)-Peniciketal B

An efficient synthesis of (+)-peniciketal B has been accomplished in 15 steps from the commercially available materials atraric acid, acryloyl chloride, and (+)-homoallylic alcohol. A convergent synthetic approach that is quite concise for constructing either "hemisphere" of (+)-peniciketal B with a common intermediate is employed that relies on a cascade intermolecular FeCl₃-mediated "inner sphere" Michael-type reaction/double cyclization of an α,β-unsaturated ketone and substituted phenol to build the benzo-fused 2,8-dioxabicyclo[3.3.1]nonane with excellent diastereoselectivity. The generality of the transformation was also demonstrated by the broad scope of substrates that would be potential candidates for natural product synthesis and medicinal chemistry. Benzannulated [6,6]spiroketal was installed by a late-stage acid-catalyzed spiroketalization.