Quararibea Metabolites. 4.(1) Total Synthesis and Conformational Studies of (+/-)-Funebrine and (+/-)-Funebral.

Syntheses of racemic forms of the main secondary metabolites of Quararibea funebris, (+/-)-funebrine, (+/-)-funebral, and their biogenetic precursor (+/-)-(2S,3S,4R)-gamma-hydroxyalloisoluecine lactone have been developed. In synthetic studies, a new variation of the Paal-Knorr condensation employing titanium isopropoxide was utilized to construct the pyrrole lactone moiety. Two efficient synthetic approaches to the key (+/-)-gamma-amino lactone have been developed, one based on Claisen chemistry and the other on addition reactions to the butenolide ring of beta-angelicalactone.