Practical Synthesis of Iboxamycin, a Potent Antibiotic Candidate, in Amounts Suitable for Studies in Animal Infection Models

A gram-scale synthesis of iboxamycin, an antibiotic candidate bearing a fused bicyclic amino acid residue, is presented. A pivotal transformation in the route involves an intramolecular hydrosilylation–oxidation sequence to set the ring-fusion stereocenters of the bicyclic scaffold. Other notable features of the synthesis include a high-yielding, highly diastereoselective alkylation of a pseudoephenamine amide, a convergent sp³–sp² Negishi coupling, and a one-pot transacetalization–reduction reaction to form the target compound’s oxepane ring. Implementation of this synthetic strategy has provided ample quantities of iboxamycin to allow for its in vivo profiling in murine models of infection.