Synthesis of mulinane diterpenoids.

The mulinane class of diterpenoids is a set of tricyclic (5-6-7), biologically active natural products whose members exhibit a variety of oxidation states. Herein, we report the inaugural synthesis of four mulinanes employing a divergent approach that relies on a diastereoselective anionic oxy-Cope rearrangement to set the relative configuration of the C8 stereocenter and an unprecedented vinylogous Saegusa dehydrogenation reaction to address C-ring functionality.