The Enchanting Alkaloids of Yuzuriha

The oriental plant Yuzuriha (Daphniphyllum macropodum) elaborates a fascinating family of polycyclic, squalene-derived alkaloids that provide a test for state-of-the-art methods of organic synthesis. The intriguing structures of these natural products have inspired us to design and explore two rather different approaches for their laboratory synthesis. This article recounts and contrasts these two different syntheses. The first approach was based on a method of synthetic design that emphasizes efficient construction of the polycyclic skeleton of the molecule (Corey's “network analysis”). A strategic bond was identified and the synthesis planned around the late formation of this bond. The synthesis that was designed by this approach proceeded smoothly until the point where it was necessary to remove functional groups that had been incorporated solely for the purpose of forming the strategic bond. Although the problems were eventually overcome, the resulting synthesis was too long and did not control the configuration of one of the stereocenters. The second approach was based on a possible biosynthesis of one of the alkaloids and provided surprisingly easy access to the simpler members of the family. The success of this synthesis led to a concrete proposal about the biosynthesis of the alkaloids and to the discovery of the astonishing transformation depicted in Scheme 27. In this marvelous reaction, an acyclic squalene derivative is converted by successive treatment with ordinary commodity chemicals into a pentacyclic alkaloid. The transformation involves the formation of four carbon–carbon bonds, two carbon-nitrogen bonds, and one carbon-hydrogen bond!