Synthesis of polyketides via diastereoselective acetalization.

[reaction: see text] Diastereoselective acetalization of pseudo-C(2)-symmetric 1,3,5-triol systems is a general strategy for the rapid generation of polyketides. The oxidative acetalization reaction shown above was studied under both kinetic and thermodynamic conditions, using synthetic 1,3,5-triol units. In addition, all possible stereochemical variants of a 1,3,5-triol system were prepared from the corresponding acetal to expand the synthetic versatility of this method.