Synthesis of Terpenoids. II. A New Total Synthesis of β-Cuparenone

Abstract

The vicinal dicuaternary arrangement, typical of cuparenetype sesquiterpenoids², has been constructed in a variety of ways³. In this paper we describe an alternate solution to this problem exemplified in a new total synthesis of β-cuparenone 1, which involves an application of the recently introduced Stork “protected” cyanohydrin reagents^4,5.