Total Syntheses of the Coumarin-Containing Natural Products Pimpinellin and Fraxetin Using Au(I)-Catalyzed Intramolecular Hydroarylation (IMHA) Chemistry

Abstract

The title natural products (1 and 2, respectively) have been synthesized by Au(I)-catalyzed intramolecular hydroarylation (IMHA) of the relevant aryl propiolate esters (e.g., 13), which were themselves formed by reaction of the corresponding phenols with either 3-(trimethylsilyl)propiolic acid or propiolic acid and N-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)-N'-ethylcarbodiimide hydrochloride or dicyclohexylcarbodiimide. (±)-Purpurasol (3) was readily derived from fraxetin (2) by established procedures.