Synthesis of (E)- and (Z)-pulvinones
Abstract
Two new routes to pulvinones have been developed, one of which involves a novel Wittig reaction. For the first time, members of the E-series, including the parent (E)-pulvinone, are reported and the structural elucidation of the geometric isomers is described. A method for quantitatively converting (E)-pulvinones into (Z)-pulvinones is presented, together with a technique for differentiating between the isomers.