Chunngai Hui

Ring contraction in synthesis of functionalized carbocycles Chunngai Hui,ab Luke Craggsc and Andrey P. Antonchick *abc Abstract Carbocycles are a key and widely present structural motif in organic compounds. The construction of structurally intriguing carbocycles, such as highly-strained fused rings, spirocycles or highly-functionalized carbocycles with congested stereocenters, remains challenging in organic chemistry.

Cyclobutanes are four-membered carbocycles which present a unique structural feature in bioactive natural products (1−3) (Figure 1A). Many natural cyclobutanes contain various substituents and possess an array of stereocenters in a contiguous fashion in a limited space. The congested, sp3-enriched small carbocycle has attracted wide interest from the synthetic community due to its efficient synthesis.