Ruthenium-Catalyzed Direct Dehydrogenative Cross-Coupling of Allyl Alcohols and Acrylates: Application to Total Synthesis of Hydroxy β-Sanshool, ZP-Amide I, and Chondrillin.

Ru-catalyzed oxidative coupling of allyl alcohols and activated olefins has been developed by C(allyl)-H activation of allyl alcohols providing efficient and direct access to synthetically useful α,β-unsaturated enone intermediates. Synthetic utility of this method was demonstrated by its application to synthesis of bioactive natural products such as Hydroxy-β-sanshool, ZP-amide I, Chondrillin, Plakorin, and (+)-cis-Solamin A.