Concise and enantioselective synthesis of (+)-SDEF 678 metabolite and (+)-speciosins A, C, and L

Concise and enantioselective synthesis of highly oxygenated cyclohexanoid natural products (+)-SDEF 678 metabolite and (+)-speciosins A, C, and L was achieved from commercially available D-quinic acid. This synthesis included diastereoselective nucleophilic epoxidation, Sonogashira cross-coupling, and β-elimination as common steps. Their absolute configurations were unambiguously determined by comparing optical rotations between the synthetic and natural products.