Natural Product Synthesis via the Rhodium Carbenoid-Mediated Cyclization of a-Diazo Carbonyl Compounds

The chemistry of metal carbene complexes has provided chemists with exceptionally fertile ground for designing and developing new stereoselective bond construction for application towards the synthesis of various natural products. In particular, the RhII-catalyzed reaction of 2-diazo-3-oxobutanoates bearing tethered p-bonds represents a synthetically useful protocol for the construction of a variety of novel polycyclic skeletons. The related RhII-catalyzed reaction of the 2-diazo-2-(1H-indol-2-yl)acetate system has recently been examined as a potential route towards scandine, a member of the melodinus family of alkaloids.