title: Diastereoselective synthesis of 4-hydroxytetralones via a cascade Stetter-aldol reaction catalyzed by N-heterocyclic carbenes.
abstract: A cascade Stetter-aldol reaction of phthalaldehyde and Michael acceptors catalyzed by N-heterocyclic carbenes was developed. The corresponding 3-substituted-4-hydroxytetralones were obtained in moderate to good yields with good trans-selectivities. On the contrary, the separated Stetter reaction followed by aldol reaction gave 3-substituted-4-hydroxytetralones with good cis-selectivity. Oxidation or dehydration of the resulted 4-hydroxytetralone gave the corresponding naphthalenediol or naphthol derivative, respectively, in good yield.
authors.affiliation: Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China.
authors.forename: Fang-Gang
authors.initials: FG
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Xue-Liang
authors.initials: XL
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Song
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ye