A Direct C11 Alkylation Strategy on the Saxitoxin Core: A Synthesis of (+)-11-Saxitoxinethanoic Acid

The bis-guanidinium ion family of natural products are revered for their utility in the study of ion channel physiology. While many congeners have been isolated with various oxidation and sulfation patterns, only two members of this family have been isolated bearing a carbon–carbon bond at C11, namely 11-saxitoxinethanoic acid and zetekitoxin AB. Herein we described a synthetic platform capable of efficiently targeting (+)-saxitoxin and 11-saxitoxinethanoic acid with an embedded C11 carbon–carbon bond. We demonstrate that this strategy enables direct enolate coupling in both an inter- and intramolecular fashion to create the C11–C15 carbon–carbon bond.