Enantioselective synthesis of (+)-brevipolide H

The enantioselective synthesis of natural brevipolide H is reported for the first time. By way of Sharpless epoxidation of penta-1,4-dien-3-ol, both enantiomerically pure epoxides were converted to the corresponding olefins for cross metathesis. Subsequent transformations, including epoxide ring opening, esterifications, cyclopropanation, oxidation and ring-closing metathesis, provided the target molecule. This synthesis successfully addresses previous shortcomings in preparing brevipolides.