Synthesis of the lignan (±)-dihydrosesamin: problems of stereocontrol in the formation of 2,3,4-trisubstituted tetrahydrofurans and tetrahydrofuranones
Abstract
It is shown that the stereochemistry of addition reactions to 3-arylidene lactones (3) and (9) is controlled by the 5- rather than the 4-substituent: synthesis of the 2,3-trans 3,4-cis lignan dihydrosesamin (11) thus requires use of the 4,5-cis lactone (8), with epimerisation at C-2 following establishment of 3,4-cis geometry.