Total synthesis of polyene natural product dihydroxerulin by mild organocatalyzed dehydrogenation of alcohols

Abstract

Polyene synthesis: An efficient approach to the total synthesis of polyene natural product dihydroxrulin (1) is described. A novel, mild, direct organocatalytic IBX-mediated dehydrogenation process of simple alcohols to enals has been developed, which serves as a key step in the synthesis (see scheme).