Chiral cyclopentane derivatives have widely been employed as important starting materials in the syntheses of naturally occurring compounds. Development of an efficient preparation of a chiral cyclopentane derivative from readly available substances with both (+)- and (-)-forms is therefore desirable. We have established an efficient procedure for the preparation of chiral 2-isopropeny1-5-methyl-4-oxocyclo-pentane-1-carboxylate(1) and (2), whose substituents would be transformed into variety of functional groups, from readily avairable (-)- and (+)-carvone. First, the (-)-isomer(1) was employed in the synthesis of (+)-tecomanine (7), an antipodal form of hypoglycemic monoterpene alkaloid, where the aminylium ion-induced cyclization played an important role. Whereas, N-acetyl-L-acosamine (32), found as a structural component of glycosidic antibiotic, was also derived from the (+)-isomer (2) by utilizing the Beckmann rearrangement and Baeyer-Villiger oxidation as key reactions. Finally, Melillo's lactone(34), a key intermediate for the synthesis of carbapenem antibiotic (+)-thienamycin, was prepared from (-)-isomer(1) by manipulation of its substituents in reasonably high-yield.
