Palladium-Catalyzed Regioselective Allylic Oxidation of Amorphadiene, a Precursor of Artemisinin

A regioselective Pd-catalyzed allylic oxidation of amorphadiene, a key precursor to the antimalarial drug artemisinin, is described. Amorphadiene can be obtained in high yields by fermentation, but it is currently treated as a waste in the industrial semisynthetic artemisinin process. The catalytic step described here is a substitute for the P450 enzymes involved in the artemisinin biosynthesis and opens up new opportunities to supplement a critical step in the current semisynthetic route and increase the potential of the fermentation process.