UC Berkeley

We describe a symmetry-inspired synthetic approach that has enabled a short synthesis of delavatine A and a formal synthesis of incarviatone A, which are two likely biosynthetically related natural products. The indane core of these natural products was constructed through a cascade sequence involving five transformations that occur in a single pot. Leveraging symmetry has allowed us to trace both natural products back to a versatile building block, 3,5-dibromo-2-pyrone, and studies related to site-selective cross-coupling of this polyhalogenated heterocycle are described. In addition, our strategy gave access to a putative biogenetic precursor, from which the syntheses of both natural products were attempted.