A nature-inspired concise synthesis of (+)-ent-chromazonarol

A large number of sesquiterpene quinone/hydroquinone natural products including (+)-ent-chromazonarol have been isolated and received great attention from the synthetic community. Herein, we report a nature-inspired concise synthesis of (+)-ent-chromazonarol in 4 steps from a readily available starting material. The synthesis relied on a Lewis acid mediated cyclization which correctly installed two vicinal stereocenters in one step. This highly efficient synthetic route allows us to further prepare natural product congeners for further biological studies.