Synthesis of Azadirachtin: A Long but Successful Journey

Authors: Gemma E. Veitch, Edith Beckmann, Brenda J. Burke, Alistair Boyer, Sarah Maslen, Steven V. Ley - Angewandte Chemie International Edition 2007 cited by 203

22 Years in the making: Azadirachtin (1) was synthesized for the first time by a highly convergent approach, utilizing a Claisen rearrangement and a radical cyclization as key steps. End-game strategies relied on intermediate 2, which could be obtained by synthetic methods as well as by degradation of 1. Bn=benzyl, TBS=tert-butyldimethylsilyl.