New Methods for the Synthesis of Certain Alkaloids and Terpenoids (Report‪)‬

INTRODUCTION The total synthesis of natural products continues to represent an important and challenging activity that is undertaken for a variety of reasons. Pivotal among these is the need to prove chemical structure and/or the need to obtain sufficient quantities of material for comprehensive biological evaluation. Of course, the structurally novel features of many natural products often provide the inspiration for the development of new methodologies and strategies [1]. Herein, we describe some of our group's activities in the area that involve the application of three distinct protocols for facilitating natural products synthesis, namely the use of gem-dihalocyclopropanes as chemical building blocks, Au(I)-catalyzed cyclization reactions, and chemoenzymatic methodologies. These are discussed separately in the following sections.