Application of New Efficient Hoveyda–Grubbs Catalysts Comprising an N→Ru Coordinate Bond in a Six-Membered Ring for the Synthesis of Natural Product-Like Cyclopenta[b]furo[2,3-c]pyrroles

The ring rearrangement metathesis (RRM) of a trans-cis diastereomer mixture of methyl 3-allyl-3a,6-epoxyisoindole-7-carboxylates derived from cheap, accessible and renewable furan-based precursors in the presence of a new class of Hoveyda–Grubbs-type catalysts, comprising an N→Ru coordinate bond in a six-membered ring, results in the difficult-to-obtain natural product-like cyclopenta[b]furo[2,3-c]pyrroles. In this process, only one diastereomer with a trans-arrangement of the 3-allyl fragment relative to the 3a,6-epoxy bridge enters into the rearrangement, while the cis-isomers polymerize almost completely under the same conditions. The tested catalysts are active in the temperature range from 60 to 120 °C at a concentration of 0.5 mol % and provide better yields of the target tricycles compared to the most popular commercially available second-generation Hoveyda–Grubbs catalyst. The diastereoselectivity of the intramolecular Diels–Alder reaction furan (IMDAF) reaction between starting 1-(furan-2-yl)but-3-en-1-amines and maleic anhydride, leading to 3a,6-epoxyisoindole-7-carboxylates, was studied as well.