Total Synthesis and Tentative Structural Elucidation of Cryptomoscatone E3: Interplay of Experimental and Computational Studies

A successful combination of computational chemistry and total synthesis was explored to tentatively elucidate the absolute configuration of cryptomoscatone E3, a polyketide isolated from the Brazilian tree Cryptocarya mandiocanna. Two independent synthetic approaches are discussed based on asymmetric allylation, ring closing metathesis, and aldol reactions.