Synthesis of arylnaphthalene lignan lactone using benzoin condensation, intramolecular thermal cyclization and Suzuki coupling

Abstract

Arylnaphthalene lactones, which are natural lignans and isolated from a wide range of plants, exhibit significant biological activity, including anticancer and antiviral activities. In this work, we have developed a versatile and convergent synthetic method for arylnaphthalene lactones, which involves the use of benzoin condensation and thermal intramolecular cyclization for preparing the key intermediate, naphthol. A high-yielding Suzuki reaction is utilized to introduce the aryl group to the C9 position of the naphthalene lactones, which allows for the construction of the arylnaphthalene lactone skeleton.