Rhodium-Catalyzed [4+3] Cycloaddition to Furans: Direct Access to Functionalized Bicyclo[5.3.0]decane Derivatives.

An efficient method to directly access the bicyclo[5.3.0]decane core was achieved by rhodium-catalyzed reaction of a novel donor-acceptor cyclopentenyl diazocarboxylate with a variety of furans. As this motif is commonly found within bioactive antitumor natural products, selected systems were further manipulated and evaluated against cancer cell lines sensitive to protein kinase C (PKC) activation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]