Vinylogous addition of siloxyfurans to benzopyryliums: a concise approach to the tetrahydroxanthone natural products

A concise approach to the tetrahydroxanthone natural products employing vinylogous addition of siloxyfurans to benzopyryliums and a late-stage Dieckmann cyclization has been developed. With this methodology, chiral, racemic forms of the natural products blennolides B and blennolide C have been synthesized in a maximum of four steps from a 5-hydroxychromone substrate. The regio- and diastereoselectivity of the vinylogous additions was probed using computational studies, which suggested the involvement of Diels-Alder-like transition states.