A Spiroalkylation Method for the Stereoselective Construction of α-Quaternary Carbons and Its Application to the Total Synthesis of (R)-Puraquinonic Acid.

Cyclic α-quaternary carbon stereocenters were prepared from biselectrophillic substrates and an easily prepared chiral bicyclic sulfonyl lactam. This was achieved in two steps by spiroalkylation, employing biphasic reaction conditions with a phase-transfer catalyst, followed by reduction and alkylation with a series of alkyl halide electrophiles. The products of this method were isolated in good yields with with high levels of diastereoselectivity. This methodology was employed in the enantioselective total synthesis of (R)-puraquinonic acid (1) for a late-stage installation of the α-quaternary carbon stereocenter. This enabled the shortest synthesis of 1 to date, an eight-pot sequence providing an overall yield of 14%.