Terpenoids polycyclic natural compounds

Polyene cyclizations have been of substantial value in the synthesis of polycyclic natural products of the terpene type. These syntheses resemble the processes by which terpenoid and steroidal compounds are assembled in nature. The most dramatic example of biological synthesis of a polycyclic skeleton from a polyene intermediate is the conversion of squalene oxide to the steroid lanosterol. In the biological reaction, the enzyme presumably functions not only to induce the cationic cyclization but also to bind the substrate in a conformation corresponding to the stereochemistry of the polycyclic product.21... 

ABSTRACT In the synthesis of relevant organic compounds such as natural products and analogues, the proportion of the number of steps coupled with the increase of complexity is now a universal paradigm to ascertain the quality and efficiency of a process. Alongwith providing accessibility to a multitude of diversified classes of natural products such as alkaloids, terpenoids, steroids and others, these criteria have been addressed by us via the application of domino processes. The acid-catalyzed intermolecular cyclization has been used as a viable synthetic tool for the stereospecific formation of different classes of polycyclic natural products. 

Benzene, toluene, the xylenes, ethyl benzene, styrene, isopropyl benzene (cumene), chlorobenzene, the dichlorobenzenes, nitrobenzene, diphenyl, naphthalene, 1-methyl-naphthalene, 2-methyl-naphthalene, 2,6-dimethyl-naphthalene, and 2,6-diisopropyl naphthalene are the most important volatile aromatics of commercial significance. These compounds do not occur in the environment naturally except as constituents of petroleum which may seep into the oceans from underground deposits. The occurrence of these products in the environment is thus mainly or exclusively of man-made origin, as distinct from other hydrocarbons such as methane, terpenoids, polycyclic aromatics. 

The alkylation of cyclopentanoid enolate groups, which are part of polycyclic systems, is a common step in natural product syntheses, particularly in the synthesis of terpenoids and steroids. A high degree of stereoselectivity is usually encountered in such reactions, for example, in the preparation of the bicyclic compounds 17-2054 59. Steric, rather than electronic, control elements determine the diastereoselectivity. 

Conventional multistep synthesis of natural products reduces the overall yield of the target molecules. In contrast, biomimetic enantioselective domino reactions, promoted by small-molecule artificial enzymes, are more useful for the practical synthesis of natural products and related compounds. The stereoselective formation of polycyclic isoprenoids by the cyclase-induced cyclization of polypren-oids is one of the most remarkable steps in biosynthesis because this reaction results in the formation of several new quaternary and tertiary stereocenters and new rings in a single step. The use of biomimetic polycyclization with artificial cyclase is the most ideal chemical method for the synthesis of these polycyclic terpenoids. In this chapter, biosynthesis of polycyclic terpenoids, biomimetic stereoselective polyene cyclization induced by artificial cyclases, and total synthesis of bioactive natural products using stereoselective polyene cyclization as a key step will be discussed. 

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