Publications by authors named "Zhengshen Wang"

Article Synopsis
  • The first-ever asymmetric total synthesis of chuanxiongnolide L1 was successfully completed in 16 steps with a low overall yield of 1.9%.
  • The synthesis utilized a bioinspired approach with a chiral auxiliary to guide the reactions.
  • Key techniques included asymmetric oxidative dearomatization of a chiral amino ether and an asymmetric Diels-Alder reaction using a masked chiral benzoquinone.
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A cascade hexadehydro-Diels-Alder (HDDA)/[3 + 2] cycloaddition reaction between tetrayne and ,'-cyclic acylhydrazone is described. This strategy allows the efficient construction of fully substituted 2,3-dihydro-1-indazole scaffolds which have insecticidal activity against the third instar larvae of .

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As an important moiety in natural products, ,-acetal has attracted wide attention in the past few years. An efficient method to construct ,-acetal has been developed. Using silver catalyst, cyclobutenediones were smoothly converted to the corresponding -aminobutenolides in the presence of formamides, in which cyclobutenediones likely proceed with a key decarbonylative [3 + 2] cycloaddition process.

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Total synthesis of caesalpinnone A was achieved in 12 steps starting from resorcinol. Key features of the synthesis include BINOL-phosphoric acid catalyzed [4 + 2] cycloaddition, -selective nucleophilic substitution, deallylation/oxa-Michael addition cascade, and late-stage photo-Fries rearrangement.

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An efficient method to build various multisubstituted polycyclic indoline-annulated normal to medium-size rings through dearomatization of indole via a tandem 1,2-acyloxy migration/intramolecular [3 + 2] cycloaddition process is described. The pentacyclic skeleton of strychnine could be synthesized via this tandem cycloaddition and a further Mannich reaction. This approach would provide a novel strategy to the synthesis of strychons alkaloids.

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An effective synthesis of structurally diverse benzazocines was accomplished in good to excellent chemical yields (55-82 %) through a gold(I)-catalyzed cascade reaction involving tandem 1,2-acyloxy shift/[3+2] cycloaddition of terminal 1,9-enynyl esters. The reaction proceeds under extremely mild conditions and represents one of the relatively few transition-metal-catalyzed intramolecular cycloaddition reactions for the synthesis of benzazocines.

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The first total synthesis of the Myrioneuron alkaloids (±)-α,β-myrifabral A and B has been accomplished in only four steps from conveniently available starting materials. This short synthesis relied on the use of a key tandem Mannich/amidation reaction to rapidly construct the core framework and two carbon stereocenters. The synthetic route allows for large scale preparation of these promising natural products against the hepatitis C virus (HCV).

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A concise asymmetric total synthesis of a fusarentin ether (1) with sequential biomimetic transformation to its analogues fusarentin 6,7-dimethyl ether (2), 7-O-demethylmonocerin (3), and (+)-monocerin (4) has been accomplished. The cis-fused furobenzopyranones of 7-O-demethylmonocerin (3) and (+)-monocerin (4) were efficiently constructed via an intramolecular nucleophilic trapping of a quinonemethide intermediate, which was obtained by benzylic oxidation of fusarentin 6-methyl ether (1) using hypervalent iodine reagent.

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A novel tandem Mannich/intramolecular aminal formation between tryptamines and salicylaldehydes was reported. This strategy provides a promising approach for the stereoselective synthesis of a range of complex fused spiroindolines, which bear a highly congested contiguous spiro quaternary center and two tertiary stereocenters, in a highly economical and effective fashion.

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