Total Synthesis and Biological Evaluation of (+)-Neopeltolide and Its Analogues

The stereocontrolled total synthesis of the originally proposed (1) and correct (2) structures of (+)-neopeltolide, a novel marine macrolide natural product with highly potent anti-proliferative activity against several cancer cell lines as well as potent antifungal activity, has been achieved by exploiting a newly developed Suzuki-Miyaura coupling/ring-closing metathesis strategy. Alkylborate 44, which was generated in situ from iodide 34, was coupled with enol phosphate 8 by a Suzuki-Miyaura coupling. Ring-closing metathesis of the derived diene 45 followed by stereoselective hydrogenation afforded tetrahydropyran 47 as a single stereoisomer in high overall yield from 34. Our convergent strategy enabled us to construct the 14-membered macrolactone core structure of 2 in a rapid and efficient manner. Total synthesis and biological evaluation of synthetic intermediates and designed synthetic analogues, performed to establish the structure-activity relationships of 2, led to the discovery of a structurally simple yet potent cytotoxic analogue, 9-demethylneopeltolide (54).