RSC Publishing


Publishing

 

Cover image for Chemical Society Reviews, select for current issue

Chemical Society Reviews

The home of high impact reviews from across the chemical sciences.



Subscribers

Non-subscribers

Free access



Tutorial Review

Chem. Soc. Rev., 2009, 38, 3133 - 3148, DOI: 10.1039/b901177n


[3,3]-Sigmatropic rearrangements: recent applications in the total synthesis of natural products

Elizabeth A. Ilardi, Craig E. Stivala and Armen Zakarian


Among the fundamental chemical transformations in organic synthesis, the [3,3]-sigmatropic rearrangement occupies a unique position as a powerful, reliable, and well-defined method for the stereoselective construction of carbon–carbon or carbon–heteroatom bonds. While many other reactions can unite two subunits and create a new bond, the strengths of sigmatropic rearrangements derive from their ability to enable structural reorganization with unmatched build-up of complexity. Recent applications that illustrate [3,3]-sigmatropic processes as a key concept in the synthesis of complex natural products are described in this tutorial review, covering literature from about 2001 through early 2009.

Graphical abstract image for this article  (ID: b901177n)