Mini-Reviews in Organic Chemistry

ISSN: 1570-193X

Mini-Reviews in Organic Chemistry
Volume 2, Number 4, October 2005

Contents


Diastereoselective Additions to C,C Double Bonds Applied to the Enantioselective Synthesis of Pyrethroic Acids Pp.299
Alain Krief and Alexandre Froidbise
[Abstract]


High Throughput Screening Methods for Asymmetric Synthesis Pp.313
Valerie Charbonneau and William W. Ogilvie
[Abstract]


Progress in the Total Synthesis of Antitumour Styryl Lactones Pp.333
Gang Zhao, Bing Wu, Xiao Yu Wu and Ya Zhu Zhang
[Abstract]


Novel Aspects of Corrole Chemistry Pp.355
Sara Nardis, Donato Monti and Roberto Paolesse
[Abstract]


Synthesis of Selenophenes Pp.375
Geoffroy L. Sommen
[Abstract]


Natural Products Chemistry in Marine Ascidians of the Genus Aplidium Pp.389
Eva Zubía, María J. Ortega and Javier Salvá
[Abstract]




Abstracts

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Diastereoselective Additions to C,C Double Bonds Applied to the Enantioselective Synthesis of Pyrethroic Acids
Alain Krief and Alexandre Froidbise

Detailed review on enantioselective synthesis of methyl (1R)-trans-chrysanthemate and related methyl (1R)-cis-deltamethrinate is presented. These commercially available esters of vinylcyclopro-panecarboxylic acids belong to pyrethroids class of insecticides. They are used as single enantiomers for domestic and agricultural purpose. They are almost 3.5 10⁴ more active than DDT and are biodegradable.


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High Throughput Screening Methods for Asymmetric Synthesis
Valerie Charbonneau and William W. Ogilvie

Combinatorial and high throughput methods have recently been applied to chemical reaction development as it greatly increases the reactivity "space" available to the chemist. Recent focus has been the development of detection methods, particularly those directed towards enantioselectivity. Progress in this area has been reviewed with particular emphasis placed on recent enantioselective methods.


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Progress in the Total Synthesis of Antitumour Styryl Lactones
Gang Zhao, Bing Wu, Xiao Yu Wu and Ya Zhu Zhang

During the last years, the stereoselective synthesis of a small group of styryl lactones has increased the interest in synthetic organic chemistry in which many research groups have focused much of their efforts. This review gives an overview of the different approaches for the total synthesis of novel styryl lactones, which were found to possess marginal to significant cytotoxicities against several human tumors reported to date.


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Novel Aspects of Corrole Chemistry
Sara Nardis, Donato Monti and Roberto Paolesse

Corrole is one of the first examples of porphyrin analogs reported in the literature. This class of compounds has received a great attention, because of their promising exploitation in different fields, ranging from medicine to material chemistry. Among them, corrole can be considered the prototypical example of contracted porphyrins, with one of the meso carbon bridges missing. Although this macrocycle was first reported more than thirty years ago, only recently more attention has been devoted to the chemistry of corrole. The recent availability of efficient and facile syntheses of meso-substituted corroles has probably been the shuttle for the impressive flourishing of corrole-related papers appearing in literature in the last few years. The aim of this review is to highlight the latest reports in the synthetic chemistry of corrole, with special attention to the synthetic strategies and peripheral functionalizations of this macrocycle.


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Synthesis of Selenophenes
Geoffroy L. Sommen

The preparation of selenophenes is here reviewed. Although it does not include the synthesis of fused rings systems with selenophenes, the entire range of reactions is covered: from acetylenes, olefins, β-diketo compounds, furan, imine, amide, cycle contraction using sodium selenide, cycloaddition, radical cyclisation and much more.


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Natural Products Chemistry in Marine Ascidians of the Genus Aplidium
Eva Zubía, María J. Ortega and Javier Salvá

Ascidians (tunicates) are widely recognized as one of the most prolific producers of bioactive natural products in the marine environment. In particular, ascidians of the genus Aplidium are renowned for the variability in the metabolites that they content. The non-nitrogenous compounds are dominated by the presence of meroterpenoids exemplified by the longithorones. Among the nitrogen containing group, nucleosides, cyclic peptides and a high variety of alkaloids can be mentioned. In this review the most interesting aspects of structure elucidation and bioactivity of the natural products from species of the genus Aplidium reported up to the end of 2004 will be presented.