The direct oxidative diene cyclization and related reactions in natural product synthesis (Beilstein Journal of Organic Chemistry)

Abstract The direct oxidative cyclization of 1,5-dienes is a valuable synthetic method for the (dia)stereoselective preparation of substituted tetrahydrofurans. Closely related reactions start from 5,6-dihydroxy or 5-hydroxyalkenes to generate similar products in a mechanistically analogous manner. After a brief overview on the history of this group of transformations and a survey on mechanistic and stereochemical aspects, this review article provides a description on applications in natural product synthesis. Moreover, current limitations and future directions in this area of chemistry are discussed. Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2016, 12, 2104–2123. doi:10.3762/bjoc.12.200