Synthetic progress towards a novel molecular scaffold

ORGN 62

Christian David Zeigler, zeiglecd@jmu.edu and Kevin L. Caran, carankl@jmu.edu. Department of Chemistry, James Madison University, MSC 7701, Harrisonburg, VA 22807
Synthetic progress has been accomplished towards a previously unknown rigid tricyclic triketone scaffold. Selective reduction will allow this scaffold to serve as either a unidirectional or discotic core, capable of being appended with a variety of chemical moieties. Our 8-step synthetic sequence, starting from inexpensive, commercially-available reagents includes a series of selective oxidations, a Diels-Alder reaction, and tandem intramolecular Michael cyclizations to yield a C3 symmetrical, conformationally-fixed scaffold. The material presented will include our progress towards the synthesis of this novel scaffold, as well as NMR (1H, 13C, COSY) and IR evidence of our synthetic intermediates.