Dynamic kinetic resolution during a vinylogous Payne rearrangement: a concise synthesis of the polar pharmacophoric subunit of (+)-scyphostatin.

The diastereomeric epoxycyclohexenols 3a/b (obtained via a Wharton rearrangement of a bis-epoxycyclohexanone precursor) were shown to undergo interconversion via a facile vinylogous Payne rearrangement. Mechanistic issues were probed; the doubly O-deuterated analogues underwent this equilibration more slowly than the parent dihydroxy compounds. It was possible to kinetically resolve the mixture of 3a/b under equilibrating conditions by use of Amano PS. This DKR is additionally noteworthy because it sets four stereocenters in a single event.