Transformations of lignans. Part 11: Oxidation of diphyllin with hypervalent iodine reagents and reductive reactions of a resulting 1-methoxy-1-aryl-4-oxonaphthalene lactone
affords a 1-methoxy-1-aryl-4-oxonaphthalene lactone 6. Reduction of 6 with lithiumaluminiumhydride yields, inter alia, 3,4-dihydrodiphyllin 13, while reaction with sodium in ethanol yields 8 as a major product. These reactions illustrate that selective oxidation followed by reduction provides a facile route for the conversion of a 1-arylnaphthalene lactone to novel functionalised naphthalene and dihydronaphthalene