The Reaction Mechanism of Spirocylization and Stereoselectivity Studies for the Calyculin C16 -C25 Fragment

The mechanism of the double intramolecular hetero-Michael addition, a key reaction in the planned synthesis of the natural product calyculin C, has been studied by NMR. The cyclization follows Baldwin’s rules and proceeds first through a six-membered ring closure (6-endo-dig), followed by a five-membered ring cyclization (5-exo-trig). (© Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, 69451 Weinheim, Germany, 2005)