Syntheses of (2R,4'R,8'R)-alpha-tocopherol and (2R,3'E,7'E)-alpha-tocotrienol.

Reaction of trimethyl-hydroquinone with methyl vinyl ketone in acidic methanol gave rac.-2-methoxy-2,5,7,8-tetramethyl-chroman-6-ol ( 8 ). This acetal was converted in four steps to rac.-(6-hydroxy-2,5,7,8-tetramethyl-chroman-2-yl)acetic acid ( 13 ). Acid 13 was readily resolved with α-methyl-benzylamine to give the (S)-enantiomer 14 . Treatment of the unwanted (2 R)-isomer with acid regenerated 13 , thus leading to an efficient use of this compound. Employing a side chain derived from phytol, 14 was converted to (2R, 4′R, 8′R)-α-tocopherol ( 1d , ‘natural’ vitamin E). A reaction sequence from 14 involving two highly stereoselective Claisen rearrangements has provided the first total synthesis of (2R,'E,7′E)-α-tocotrienol ( 2d ).