A novel simplified synthesis of acivicin

This report describes an efficient synthesis of the natural isomer of acivicin, which is the only one provided with a noteworthy biological activity. The present procedure allowed the synthesis of (+)-1 in just five steps with a 34% overall yield. Due to the easy separation of the two diastereomers and to the availability of the starting material at low cost, the present procedure can be scaled-up to gram quantities.