A short and efficient synthesis of (R)-(-)-sporochnol A

A short and efficient synthesis of (R)-(-)-sporochnol A in five steps and 9% overall yield has been developed. The sequence uses as starting material the easily available enantiopure monoketal derived from 1,4-cyclohexanedione and (R,R)-hydrobenzoin that serves as a chiral auxiliary. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.