PHOTOLACTONIZATION : A NOVEL SYNTHETIC ENTRY TO MACROLIDES
o-Quinol acetates, hydroxyalkyalted at C(6), are easily accesible from simple phenols by Wessely acetoxylation (preferentially catalyzed by BF3).On UV irradiation ( in the presence of an appropriate tertiary amine), they are smoothly converted to macrocyclic lactones.Subtle conditions have been elaborated to lead to high overall yields, and the scope of the conversion of phenols to macrolides has been elucidated.