Novel route to 5-position vinyl derivatives of thiolactomycin: olefination versus deformylation

Vinyl and diene derivatives of thiolactomycin have been prepared via Horner–Wadsworth–Emmons olefination from protected 5-formyl-3,5-dimethylthiotetronic acid. Several 4-position protecting groups and a variety of phosphonates were evaluated, with MOM protection and β-ketophosphonates yielding the highest ratio of the desired product to deformylated product.