ChemCatChemAugust 26, 2024Soufian Tibouti, Louis Barriault
AbstractSalvinorin A is a powerful hallucinogen in humans, and a selective, high efficacy agonist of the kappa‐opioid receptor (κ‐OR). Salvinorin A is the first plant‐derived ligand with high selectivity for κ‐OR over other receptors, its structure is unrelated to any known opioid receptor ligands, even lacking any nitrogenous moieties. Mechanistically and pharmacologically, salvinorin A is...
The formal synthesis of (±)-salvinorin A is presented. Our approach utilizes two distinct gold(I) catalytic processes. The combination of a gold(I)-catalyzed reaction with an intermolecular Diels-Alder reaction followed by a gold(I)-catalyzed photoredox reaction generated in eight steps the framework of the natural product with high diastereoselectivity.