Abstract
Vitamin A (or all-trans-retinol) metabolites are involved in a wide range of cellular processes. However, the investigation of their biological role is hampered due to their very limited availability. Herein we report a stereoselective total synthesis of the vitamin A metabolites (R)-all-trans-13,14-dihydroretinol and -retinoic acid, applying an E-selective HWE olefination and a Ru(II) catalyzed intramolecular 7-endo-dig hydrosilylation as the key steps.