Synthesis of Alkyl Citrates (-)-CJ-13,981, (-)-CJ-13,982, and (-)-L-731,120 via a Cyclobutene Diester.

An efficient and step-economic new approach to alkyl citrate natural products from a cyclobutene diester is presented. The key sequence involves a formal [2 + 2]-cycloaddition of a silylketene acetal with dimethylacetylene dicarboxylate to provide the cyclobutene diester 14 with 4.5:1 stereoselectivity. Exposure of diester 14 in acidic methanol effected a hydrolysis, intramolecular oxy-Michael reaction, and cyclobutanone methanolysis cascade to give the triester 15. Iodination and elimination then afforded a key alkyl citrate alkene intermediate, which was converted into the natural products (-)-CJ-13,982 (1), (-)-CJ-13,981 (2), and (-)-L-731,120 (3) via a cross-metathesis and subsequent reduction.