Stereocontrolled [3 + 2] annulations with arene chromium tricarbonyl complexes: construction of spirocyclic compounds related to fredericamycin A.

[reaction: see text] An efficient method has been developed for the stereocontrolled construction of polycyclic and spirocyclic compounds, including the spirocyclic core of the antitumor agent fredericamycin A. The strategy involves a one-pot aldol addition/Brook rearrangement/cyclization sequence beginning from arene chromium tricarbonyl complexes and can formally be described as a [3 + 2] annulation.