A Formal Synthesis of (+)-Discodermolide

Abstract

Herein, we report the formal synthesis of (+)-discodermolide (1), a promising anticancer agent of sponge origin, in 24 linear steps, with 35 steps in total. The route proceeds from lactone 2, a building block containing the common 1,2-anti-2,3-syn stereotriad found in each of the three subunits, methyl ketone 4 (C1−C6), vinyl iodide 7 (C9−C14), and iodide 8 (C15−C24) utilized for the construction of 1. The key fragment union was achieved by a Suzuki cross-coupling between 7 and 8.