Synthesis of the ester side chains of homoharringtonine and harringtonine using lactones as building blocks

Abstract

The efficient synthesis of the ester side chains of homoharringtonine and harringtonine using lactones as building blocks has been developed. The synthesis used classic reactions from readily available starting materials. Reactions of the lactone bearing an oxo-containing α-tetrasubstituted center with MeOH and cephalotaxine, respectively, proceeded smoothly to give the corresponding ring-opening products in 80% and 65% yield.

Graphical Abstract

Keywords:

• Alkaloid
• classic reactions
• efficient synthesis
• ester side chain
• homoharringtonine

Additional information

Funding

We are grateful for financial support from Hebei Province Natural Science Foundation of China [B2016208124] and Hebei University of Science and Technology.