Photochemical 1,3-Acyl Shifts in Natural Product Synthesis

Abstract

Photochemical, sigmatropic 1,3-acyl shifts represent a powerful tool to construct quaternary carbon atoms and the backbones of complex natural products which cannot be constructed easily by conventional methods. This review highlights applications of 1,3-acyl shifts to elegant, partly biomimetic total syntheses of natural products by discussing the underlying photochemical equilibrium.