Related Experiment Video
Updated: Mar 18, 2026

Microwave-assisted Intramolecular Dehydrogenative Diels-Alder Reactions for the Synthesis of Functionalized Naphthalenes/Solvatochromic Dyes
Published on: April 1, 2013
Rapid Access to Orthogonally Functionalized Naphthalenes: Application to the Total Synthesis of the Anticancer Agent
Teresa A Unzner1, Adriana S Grossmann1, Thomas Magauer2
1Department of Chemistry and Pharmacy, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, Butenandtstrasse 5-13, 81377, Munich, Germany.
Abstract:
We report the synthesis of orthogonally functionalized naphthalenes from simple, commercially available indanones in four steps. The developed method proceeds through a two-step process that features a thermally induced fragmentation of a cyclopropane indanone with simultaneous 1,2-chloride shift. Migration of the chloride substituent occurs in a regioselective manner to preferentially afford the para-chloronaphthol substitution pattern. The obtained naphthols are versatile building blocks that can be selectively modified and used for the efficient construction of biologically active molecules. This has enabled the total synthesis of the potent anticancer natural product chartarin through a highly convergent retrosynthetic bond disconnection.
More Related Videos
09:35Preparation of a Corannulene-functionalized Hexahelicene by CopperI-catalyzed Alkyne-azide Cycloaddition of Nonplanar Polyaromatic Units
Published on: September 18, 2016
07:30A Direct, Regioselective and Atom-Economical Synthesis of 3-Aroyl-N-hydroxy-5-nitroindoles by Cycloaddition of 4-Nitronitrosobenzene with Alkynones
Published on: January 21, 2020
Related Concept Videos
Aromatic Hydrocarbon Cations: Structural Overview
Removing one hydrogen from the intervening CH2 group...
ortho–para-Directing Activators: –CH3, –OH, –⁠NH2, –OCH3
Criteria for Aromaticity and the Hückel 4n + 2 Rule
For the first time, Eric Hückel, a German chemical physicist, derived a set of structural features for a compound to be classified as aromatic. This is now known as Hückel’s rule or the 4n +...
Woodward–Hoffmann Selection Rules and Microscopic Reversibility
Preparation of 1° Amines: Hofmann and Curtius Rearrangement Overview
Preparation of Alkynes: Dehydrohalogenation
Alkynes can be prepared by dehydrohalogenation of vicinal or geminal dihalides in the presence of a strong base like sodium amide in liquid ammonia. The reaction proceeds with the loss of two equivalents of hydrogen halide (HX) via two successive E2 elimination reactions.