Organocatalytic enantiospecific total synthesis of butenolides

Abstract

Biologically important, chiral natural products of butenolides, (-)-blastmycinolactol, (+)-blastmycinone, (-)-NFX-2, (+)-antimycinone, lipid metabolites, (+)-ancepsenolide, (+)-homoancepsenolide, mosquito larvicidal butenolide and their analogues were synthesized in very good yields in a sequential one-pot manner by using an organocatalytic reductive coupling and palladium-mediated reductive deoxygenation or organocatalytic reductive coupling and silica-mediated reductive deamination as the key steps.