Enantiospecific Total Synthesis and Absolute Configuration Assignment of Chabrolobenzoquinone H

Chabrolobenzoquinone H (1), a meroditerpene metabolite with cytotoxic activity, is synthesized via a stereoselective Julia–Kocienski olefination between a chiral pool derived aliphatic PT-sulfone and a benzoquinone aldehyde partner. The latter was obtained via consecutive chain extension steps involving a Stille coupling and a stereospecific olefin cross-metathesis reaction followed by malonic ester synthesis and a Krapcho decarboxylation. Furthermore, this total synthesis securely determined the absolute configuration of the targeted natural product.