Total Synthesis of (+)-Coriamyrtin via a Desymmetrizing Strategy Involving a 1,3-Cyclopentanedione Moiety.

We describe the total synthesis of (+)-coriamyrtin, which bears a highly functionalized -hydrindane skeleton and is a widely known neurotoxin of the Coriariaceae family. Our synthetic strategy involves the highly stereoselective construction of the -hydrindane skeleton via a desymmetrizing strategy involving a 1,3-cyclopentanedione moiety using an intramolecular aldol reaction and the formation of the 1,3-diepoxide moiety of coriamyrtin through the elaborate functionalization of the cyclopentane ring in the bicyclic structure.