Abstract
The formal synthesis of (–)-oseltamivir phosphate (Tamiflu
tm
) was accomplished starting from (S)-pyroglutamic acid. The synthesis comprised two carbon–carbon bond forming reactions,
the first one being a diastereoselective, indium-mediated allylation of a pyroglutamic
aldehyde derivative. However, attempts to effect the second carbon–carbon bond formation
– cyclohexene ring closure – using an enol-exo aldolization of a dialdehyde resulted in the formation of a product with the opposite
regioselectivity. This shortcoming could be overcome by using a reaction sequence
of Mannich methylenation/ring-closing metathesis, which provided the desired regioisomer
in high yield.
Key words
antiviral agents - allylation - cyclization - metathesis - total synthesis