Estrogen receptor ligands. 12. Synthesis of the major metabolites of an ERalpha-selective, dihydrobenzoxathiin antagonist for osteoporosis

[reaction: see text] During the course of drug metabolism studies, a major metabolite of compound 1 was detected in rhesus monkeys and assigned structure 4. The intriguing biotransformation of 1 leading to 4 was confirmed by a 19-step total synthesis starting from resorcinol (11), the key feature of which was the construction of the oxygen bridge utilizing a phenolic oxidation and trapping sequence. In addition, the synthesis of a related metabolite (5) is described.