The Witkop reaction: A Photochemical C-H-activation/cyclization and its Strategic Application in the Total Synthesis of Dichomine and related Alkaloids

• Applicant: Professorin Dr. Tanja Gaich
• Subject Area: Organic Molecular Chemistry - Synthesis and Characterisation
• Term: from 2015 to 2020
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 282720274

Investigations of excited-state redox processes have an exceptional impact on the field of organic photochemistry and its application to the synthesis of complex target molecules. The Witkop cyclization constitutes an intramolecular variant of such a process typically with an indole heterocycle as electron donor. The following proposal details the application of this reaction to the total synthesis of dichomine and related natural products. The synthetic plans devised in this project are based on our earlier works on leuconoxine. Application of this photoreaction to these natural products will represent a showcase for the potential of this transformation and is of vital importance for the efficient access to these alkaloids.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants