Synthesis of Altenuene Backbones through Iodine(III)-Participated Umpolung Diesterification and Insights into the General [1,5]-H Shift in <i>para</i>-Dearomatization of Phenols via Quantum Chemical Calculations
1′-biphenyl]-2-carboxylic acids, a series of polycyclic compounds possessing an altenuene backbone were obtained in moderate to good yields. The Umpolung diesterification reaction was completed under mild reaction conditions without an additional nucleophilic reagent. This work offers a concise method for the synthesis of diverse natural altenuene analogues. The mechanism was proposed, and the [1,5]-H shift was studied
good understanding of the mechanism, the increase in number of bromine atoms was inferred rationally from the spirolactonization process, assisted by DFT calculations and high-resolution mass spectrometry. Mechanistic experiments suggest that the formation of a stable carbocation intermediate plays a great role in the migration of oxygen to spirolactonization.