Recent Advances in Prins Spirocyclization

The classical Prins cyclization has been one of the most intensively studied reactions during the last two decades, and it has found many applications in key steps of natural product syntheses, especially for products containing tetrahydropyran motifs and related structures in their core skeletons. The application of this reaction to the synthesis of spirocylic networks has made substantial progress recently. Spiro motifs are found in many natural products with promising biorelevance and are increasingly being incorporated in drug candidates. Further, various spirocyclic chiral ligands have shown promising efficiency in asymmetric synthesis. Here a compilation of recent spiroannulation reactions by Prins cyclization is presented, focusing on the scope and versatility of this method.