title: The chemistry of vicinal tricarbonyls and related systems.
abstract: In this Account, we survey our work on the chemistry of vicinal tricarbonyls and cyano analogues. Methods of preparing the vicinal functionalities are reviewed as well as the use in organic synthesis of these strongly electrophilic aggregates, readily available from carboxylic acids. By attaching neighboring electrophilic groups to the vicinal tricarbonyl, we have developed polyelectrophilic systems, which may be added to di- and trinucleophiles to create novel types of multistep reactivity. Application of tricarbonyl chemistry in synthesis is illustrated by the formation of various natural products or their precursors including fused-ring beta-lactams, indole alkaloids, marine metabolites, enzyme inhibitors containing alpha-keto amides, and bioactive depsipeptides incorporating hydrated tricarbonyl units.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8107, USA.
authors.forename: Harry H
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Wasserman
authors.forename: Jonathan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Parr
mesh_terms: D001685:Biological Factors / Q000138:chemical synthesis; D007659:Ketones / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000737:chemistry*; D009570:Nitriles / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D001685:Biological Factors; D007659:Ketones; D009570:Nitriles