Synthesis of 3,4-bis(2,5-dimethyl-3-thienyl)furan-2,5-dione from mucobromic acid

Palladium-catalyzed cross-coupling between 2,5-dimethyl-3-thienylboronic and mucobromic acids under phase transfer catalysis (PTC) conditions gave the expected 3,4-bis(2,5-dimethyl-3-thienyl)-5-hydroxyfuran-2-one in 32% yield. The by-product was 2,2’,5,5’-tetramethyl-3,3’-bithiophene. The oxidation of the obtained hemiacylal with potassium permanganate under PTC conditions afforded 3,4-bis(2,5-dimethyl-3-thienyl)furan-2,5-dione in high yield.__________Published in Russian in Izvestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 10, pp. 2238–2240, October, 2004.