A Concise Enantioselective Total Synthesis of (-)-Virosaine A

The total synthesis of (-)-virosaine A (1) was achieved in ten steps starting from furan and 2-bromoacrolein. A one-pot Diels-Alder cycloaddition/organolithium addition initiated an efficient sequence to access a key oxime/epoxide intermediate. Heating this intermediate in acetic acid resulted in an intramolecular epoxide opening/nitrone [3+2] cycloaddition cascade to construct the caged core of 1 in a single step. Several methods of C-H functionalization were assessed on the cascade product, and ultimately, a directed lithiation/bromination effected selective C14 functionalization, enabling the synthesis of 1.