The Vinylogous Mukaiyama Aldol Reaction in Natural Product Synthesis

The aldol reaction is one of the most predominantly used reactions for the formation of C-C bonds in synthetic organic chemistry. The vinylogous extension of this fundamental C-C bond-forming reaction, the VMAR, is unique in its atomic economy in the generation of hydroxycarbonyl compounds. The generation of the same hydroxycarbonyl compounds via other routes is sometimes cumbersome and often requires multi-step synthetic sequences. Therefore, the VMAR can be a powerful alternative to other strategies in the rational design of polyketide fragments of complex natural products. In this chapter, recent advances in the VMAR and its applications to natural product synthesis are discussed.