Intramolecular carbonyl-ene reactions in the synthesis of peri-oxygenated hydroaromatics

Article abstract of DOI:10.1016/j.tet.2016.02.033

2-Methallyl aromatic aldehydes, synthesized by Suzuki coupling of 2-formylphenylboronic acids, are shown to provide cycloalkylidene ene products under acidic conditions. Susceptibility of the products to aromatization is manoeuvred by varying the reaction conditions and catalysts including binol-derived Br?nsted acid catalysts. A peri-effect is identified as a controlling factor for the aromatizations. Several oxidative transformations of an ene product are carried out as model studies of hydroaromatic polyketide natural products.