Enantioselective total synthesis of litseaverticillols A and B.

[reaction: see text] The first enantioselective total synthesis of the (1R,5S)-stereoisomer of litseaverticillols A and B, anti-HIV monocyclic sesquiterpenoids isolated from a perennial shrub found in Vietnam, was accomplished in six steps from homogeranic acid by employing the Evans asymmetric aldol reaction and a microwave-promoted cyclization of a stannylated thiol ester intermediate as the C-C bond-forming steps.