Retrosynthetic Analysis of Gibberellic Acid

Still another synthetic route to gibberellic acid has been developed which differs from those above in the transforms used to disconnect the various rings, but which also depends on the initial disconnection of ring A (using aldol and carbonyl addition transforms). 78 

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Retrosynthetic analysis of antheridic acid produced a totally different plan of synthesis from that which had been employed for the structurally related target gibberellic acid. The synthesis of antheridic acid, which included a number of novel steps, allowed definitive assignment of structure and revised stereochemistry at C(3). 

Estrone (54, Chart 6) contains a full retron for the o-quinonemethide-Diels-Alder transform which can be directly applied to give 55. This situation, in which the Diels-Alder transform is used early in the retrosynthetic analysis, contrasts with the case of ibogamine (above), or, for example, gibberellic acid (section 6.4), and a Diels-Alder pathway is relatively easy to find and to evaluate. As indicated in Chart 6, retrosynthetic conversion of estrone to 55 produces an intermediate which is subject to further rapid simplification. This general synthetic approach has successfully been applied to estrone and various analogs. ... 

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