Asymmetric synthesis of (+)-negamycin.

An asymmetric synthesis of the antibiotic (+)-negamycin (1) has been achieved, starting from commercially available (5R,6S)-4-(benzyloxycarbonyl)-5,6-diphenyl-2,3,5,6-tetrahydro-4H-1,4-oxazin-2-one (2). The synthesis involved the stabilized Wittig olefination of the lactone carbonyl group of 2 and subsequent asymmetric hydrogenation to generate the corresponding all-syn oxazine 4 with excellent diastereoselectivity. Conversion of 4 into beta-alkoxy imine 7 and subsequent CeCl3-promoted chelation-controlled allylation of 7 generated the corresponding homoallylamine 8 with good diatereoselectivity, which was readily converted into (+)-negamycin (1) in 25% overall yield over 11 steps.