Metal-mediate reactions based formal synthesis of triptonide and triptolide

A formal synthesis of triptolide and triptonide has been achieved based on metal-mediate reactions. Specially, Noyori’s ruthenium catalyzed enantioselective transfer hydrogenation, indium(III) catalyzed cationic polyene cyclization, palladium catalyzed carbonylation, rhodium catalyzed double bond migration, and palladium catalyzed ortho sp2 C–H bond oxygenation reactions served as convenient entry points for the preparation of the tetracyclic building blocks and the C14 hydroxyl group.