Absolute structures of some naturally occurring isopropenyldihydrobenzofurans, remirol, remiridiol, angenomalin, and isoangenomalin

The absolute structures of some naturally occurring chiral 2-isopropenyl-2,3-dihydrobenzofurans, (+)-remirol (1a), (+)-remiridiol (1b), (+)-angenomalin (2), and (+)-isoangenomalin (3), were studied by respective chiral synthesis. Kinetic resolutions of racemic 2-isopropenyl-2,3-dihydrobenzofurans, 2-isopropenyl-4,6-dimethoxy-2,3-dihydrobenzofuran (4), 4-hydroxy-2-isopropenyl-2,3-dihydrobenzofuran-5-carbaldehyde (8), and 2-isopropenyl-6-(MOM)oxy-2,3-dihydrobenzofuran-5-carbaldehyde (11c), by Sharpless dihydroxylation using (DHQ)₂AQN or (DHQD)₂AQN gave the corresponding chiral 2-isopropenyl-2,3-dihydrobenzofurans. Chiral (S)-(+)-4 (99% ee, using (DHQD)₂AQN) was converted to natural remirol (S)-(+)-1a and then to natural remiridiol (S)-(+)-1b. (S)-(+)-S (97% ee, using (DHQD)₂AQN) was converted to natural angenomalin (S)-(+)-2. (R)-(-)-11c (>99% ee, using (DHQ)₂AQN), was converted to natural isoangenomalin (R)-(+)-3. Thus, the absolute structures of natural remirol (+)-1a and remiridiol (+)-1b and angenomalin (+)-2 were determined to be S, and the structure of natural isoangenomalin (+)-3 was R.