The synthesis of the anti-malarial natural product polysphorin and analogues using polymer-supported reagents and scavengers

A general asymmetric route to both enantiomers of polysphorin has been developed. The route utilizes polymer-supported reagents, catalysts and scavengers to minimise the need for aqueous work-up and chromatography. This includes application of a method to scavenge 2,3-dichloro-5,6-dicyano-1,4-benzoquinone (DDQ) and a “catch-and-release” procedure to extract the resultant diol following Sharpless asymmetric dihydroxylation. A novel enzymatic selective protection and investigations of a new asymmetric dihydroxylation using microencapsulated osmium tetroxide were also investigated during the course of this study.