Ring-closing metathesis and palladium-catalyzed formate reduction to 3-methyleneoxepanes. Formal synthesis of (-)-zoapatanol

A sequence of ring-closing metathesis and palladium-catalyzed formate reduction was developed for preparing O-heterocycles with an exocyclic olefin and applied to the asymmetric synthesis of zoapatanol. The key vicinal stereocenters in zoapatanol were constructed from the l-malic acid-derived lactone by successive chelation-controlled addition of alkyl groups. The O-allylations to prepare the dienes for RCM were achieved with the tertiary alcohols bearing internal olefins. The ring opening of oxepane, a new reaction pathway for the Pd-formate reduction, is also reported.