Construction of Chiral Tertiary Alcohol Stereocenters via the [2,3]- Meisenheimer Rearrangement: Enantioselective Synthesis of the Side-Chain Acids of Homoharringtonine and Harringtonine

For the first time, the [2,3]-Meisenheimer rearrangement has been developed into a general strategy for the construction of chiral tertiary alcohols. The effectiveness and practicality of this methodology are illustrated by the successful synthesis of (R)-20 and (R)-30, the side chain acids of homoharringtonine and harringtonine, respectively.