A convergent route to the CDEF-tetracycle of pectenotoxin-2

A convergent synthesis of the CDEF-tetracyclic region of pectenotoxin-2 (PTX-2) is described. The synthetic pathway derives from a head-to-tail union of 2 equiv of linalool to establish a stereodefined DEF-tricyclic aldehyde. Subsequent coupling with a "northern" fragment enolate, followed by a tandem Sharpless epoxidation/cyclization, delivers the C10-C26 polycyclic region of the natural product.