Thermolysis of isomigrastatin and its congeners via [3,3]-sigmatropic rearrangement: a new route to the synthesis of migrastatin and its analogues.

Thermolysis of isomigrastatin (1) under neat heating conditions afforded migrastatin (1a). The reaction is proposed to proceed via a concerted [3,3]-sigmatropic rearrangement by which ring expansion is achieved regio- and enantiospecifically. The general applicability of this reaction was demonstrated with six additional isomigrastatin congeners (3-8), providing a new route to the synthesis of migrastatin analogues (3a-8a). [reaction: see text]