A series of new fluorine-containing analogs of paclitaxel and docetaxe
l are synthesized using the coupling of (3R,4S)-1-acyl-beta-lactams wi
th high enantiomeric purity with properly protected baccatin III, 10-d
eacetylbaccatin III, and 14 beta-hydroxy-10-deacetylbaccatin III as th
e key step (beta-Lactam Synthon Method). (3R,4S)-1-Acyl-beta-lactams a
re prepared through efficient chiral ester enolate - imine cycloconden
sation.