An efficient asymmetric synthesis of grenadamide

The cyclopropane containing natural product grenadamide has been prepared in six steps using (R)-5,5-dimethyl-oxazolidin-2-one as a chiral auxiliary for asymmetric synthesis. Key synthetic steps include the use of the β-hydroxyl group of a syn-aldol product as a ‘temporary’ stereocentre to control the facial selectivity of a directed cyclopropanation reaction, as well as the use of phenylethylamine as a nucleophile for the direct aminolysis of an N-acyl-oxazolidin-2-one intermediate.