Cannabinoid analogues that exhibit specificity for the CB
2
cannabinoid receptor are provided. The analogues are 1-methoxy-, 1-deoxy-11-hydroxy- and 11-hydroxy-1-methoxy-Δ
8
-tetrahydrocannabinols and 1-alkyl-3(1-naphthoyl)indoles. The compounds are useful for the treatment of pain (especially pain resulting from inflammation) and cancer (especially glioma tumors).
A dearomative allylation of naphthyl cyanohydrins with allyl borates and allyl stannanes under palladium catalysis was developed. At the initial stage of this study, the dearomative reaction (C4 substitution of the aromatics) was competing with benzyl substitution. To circumvent this issue, the use of palladium and meta-disubstituted triarylphosphine as the catalyst in a 1:1 ratio was found to enhance the site selectivity, furnishing the desired dearomatized products. Further derivatizations of products were also successful.