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The intriguing structure of tagetitoxin (1), a long-standing challenge in natural product synthesis, has been the subject of multiple revisions and has been confirmed through total synthesis. The route commences from a renewable furan starting material and features a number of unusual transformations (such as rearrangements, bromocyclization, and P(V)-based phosphate installation) to arrive at the target in 15 steps. As the route was designed to enable access to both enantiomers, the absolute configuration of the natural product could be assigned using a bioassay on (+)-1 and (-)-1.

Prized for their ability to rapidly generate chemical complexity by building new ring systems and stereocentres1, cycloaddition reactions have featured in numerous total syntheses2 and are a key component in the education of chemistry students3. Similarly, carbon-carbon (C-C) cross-coupling methods are integral to synthesis because of their programmability, modularity and reliability4. Within the area of drug discovery, an overreliance on cross-coupling has led to a disproportionate representation of flat architectures that are rich in carbon atoms with orbitals hybridized in an sp2 manner5. Despite the ability of cycloadditions to introduce multiple carbon sp3 centres in a single step, they are less used6. This is probably because of their lack of modularity, stemming from the idiosyncratic steric and electronic rules for each specific type of cycloaddition. Here we demonstrate a strategy for combining the optimal features of these two chemical transformations into one simple sequence, to enable the modular, enantioselective, scalable and programmable preparation of useful building blocks, natural products and lead scaffolds for drug discovery.

Vinyl triazenes were obtained by enantioselective [2+2] cycloaddition reactions of bicyclic alkenes with 1-alkynyl triazenes in the presence of a RuII catalyst with a chiral cyclopentadienyl ligand. These triazenes serve as unique vinyl cation surrogates. Under acidic conditions, the triazene functionality can be replaced with a variety of groups, including halides, alkoxides, sulfoxides, amides, arenes, and heteroarenes, thus providing efficient access to a pool of chiral polycyclic compounds.

Ruthenium complexes, in particular cyclopentadienyl ruthenium (??) derivatives, catalyze a vast number of transformations in the field of homogenous catalysis. Herein we describe the first synthesis of efficient chiral cationic cyclopentadienyl ruthenium (??) catalysts and their application in enantioselective cycloisomerizations yielding 4H-pyrans. A tremendous counterion effect on the selectivity was observed and subsequently explored, giving rise to a complementary set of neutral cyclopentadienyl ruthenium (??) complexes able to catalyze asymmetric cyclobutene formations.

A chiral version of the Cp*Ru(COD)Cl complex equipped with an atropchiral cyclopentadienyl (Cpx) ligand enables [2+2]-cycloadditions between bicyclic olefins and alkynes with excellent reactivity and enantioselectivity. A streamlined synthesis of the Cpx ligand by a C–H functionalisation approach is shown. The chloride counterion of the neutral CpxRuII complex is essential for enantioselectivity., Cyclopentadienyl ruthenium(ii) complexes with a large number of available coordination sites are frequently used catalysts for a broad range of transformations. To be able to render these transformations enantioselective, we have designed a chiral neutral CpxRu(ii)Cl complex basing on an atropchiral cyclopentadienyl (Cpx) ligand which is accessed in a streamlined C–H functionalisation approach. The catalyst displays excellent levels of reactivity and enantioselectivity for enantioselective [2+2]-cycloadditions leading to strained chiral cyclobutenes, allowing for catalyst loadings as low as 1 mol%. A very strong counterion effect of a bound chloride anion transforms the corresponding unselective cationic complex into a highly enantioselective neutral version. Moreover, by adding norbornadiene at the end of the reaction the catalyst can be recovered and subsequently reused.

The first total synthesis of the polyketide apiosporic acid is presented. Key steps are a Julia–Kocienski olefination, a Suzuki–Miyaura cross-coupling, and an intramolecular Diels–Alder reaction. The absolute configuration of the natural product was determined.