A concise synthetic approach to the unnatural 5-epi-taiwaniaquinone G has been developed via a Lewis acid catalyzed tandem acylation-Nazarov cyclization reaction to construct the tricyclic skeleton, followed by installation of the isopropyl group through a strategy involving coumarin formation and its subsequent hydrolysis.
A concise synthetic approach to the unnatural 5-epi-taiwaniaquinone G has been developed via a Lewis acid catalyzed tandem acylation-Nazarov cyclization reaction to construct the tricyclic skeleton, followed by installation of the isopropyl group through a strategy involving coumarin formation and its subsequent hydrolysis.
A very expedient and efficient new route toward taiwaniaquinoids, bearing the 4a-methyltetrahydrofluorene skeleton, is reported. Key steps are the intramolecular Friedel−Crafts alkylation of an aryldiene and the degradative oxidation of a methylenedioxy group; the latter process could also be utilized for building the 2-hydroxy-1,4-benzoquinone unit, which is frequently found in natural products. Utilizing