Development of an expedient intramolecular Pauson-Khand reaction approach to stereoselectively construct the trans-decalin with a C1 quaternary chiral center.

Stereoselective synthesis of the trans-decalin subunit with a defined C1 quaternary chiral center has been achieved by the Pauson-Khand reaction (PKR) as a key step. The developed chemistry offers an alternative to the IMDA reaction that has been used for the syntheses of trans-decalin based biologically active natural products.