A Concise Synthesis of Eupomatilones 4, 6, and 7 by Rhodium‐Catalyzed Enantioselective Desymmetrization of Cyclic meso Anhydrides with Organozinc Reagents Generated In Situ

The wages of syn: The development of a phosphoramidite-ligated rhodium catalyst allows the enantioselective desymmetrization of cyclic anhydrides with organozinc nucleophiles formed in situ. This methodology has been utilized for a concise synthesis of eupomatilones 4 and 7 and of the putative structure of eupomatilone 6, each of which is completed in four steps in greater than 50 % overall yield.