Total synthesis of (+)-cis-sylvaticin: double oxidative cyclization reactions catalyzed by osmium.

The double oxidative cyclization of dienes is a viable procedure for making complex natural products containing cis-THF units. A double deprotection/double oxidative cyclization strategy using catalytic osmium tetroxide was used to construct the bisheterocyclic core of cis-sylvaticin and ultimately confirm its structure. The natural product was then prepared by a short sequence of reactions that is exceptionally concise: the final route being just 13 linear steps and 19 chemical operations in total.