Preparation of Optically Enriched Secondary Alkyllithium and Alkylcopper Reagents-Synthesis of (-)-Lardolure and Siphonarienal.

Optically enriched secondary alkyl iodides were converted into secondary alkyllithium and secondary alkylcopper compounds with very high retention of configuration. Quenching with various electrophiles, including chiral epoxides, provided a range of chiral molecules with high enantiomeric purity (>90 % ee). This method has been applied in an iterative fashion in the total synthesis of (-)-lardolure in 13 steps and 5.4 % overall yield (>99 % ee, dr>99:1) and siphonarienal in 15 steps and 5.6 % overall yield (>99 % ee, dr>99:1) starting from commercially available ethyl (R)-3-hydroxybutyrate (>99 % ee).