A Mixed-Ligand Chiral Rhodium(II) Catalyst Enables the Enantioselective Total Synthesis of Piperarborenine B.

A novel, mixed-ligand chiral rhodium(II) catalyst, Rh2(S-NTTL)3(dCPA), has enabled the first enantioselective total synthesis of the natural product piperarborenine B. A crystal structure of Rh2(S-NTTL)3(dCPA) reveals a "chiral crown" conformation with a bulky dicyclohexylphenyl acetate ligand and three N-naphthalimido groups oriented on the same face of the catalyst. The natural product was prepared on large scale using rhodium-catalyzed bicyclobutanation/ copper-catalyzed homoconjugate addition chemistry in the key step. The route proceeds in ten steps with an 8% overall yield and 92% ee.