Meerwein-Ponndorf-Verley followed by Brooke

The Meerwein-Ponndorf-Verley reduction is the opposite of the Oppenauer oxidation.  Kei Takeda and co-workers from Hiroshima University have reported in ACIEE on a Meerwein-Ponndorf-Verley type reduction of an acyl silane followed by a Brooke rearrangement to afford siloxyallenes.  They were able to trap these allenes with a dienophile to undergo a [4+2] cycloaddition.

ACIEE paper

Synthesis of Prelaureatin

Kei Takeda and co-workers at Hiroshima University have recently published in JOC on a diastereoselective Brooke rearrangement for the synthesis of prelaureatin.

JOC paper