Arylethanoid derivatives

ACID-TREATMENT OF ARYLPROPANOID AND ARYLETHANOID DERIVATIVES - ACCESS TO NATURAL AND SYNTHETIC BIOLOGICALLY ACTIVE POLYPHENOLS... 

The treatment of saturated enolisable aldehydes and ketones with acids is known to result in aldol condensation [1]. In the case of arylethanoid derivatives, this treatment results concomitantly in aldol condensation followed by cyclisation and aromatisation. Furthermore, when the acid used is known to promote the demethylation of methoxyphenyl derivatives into phenols, this reaction appears to lead to a great structural diversity of biologically active natural and synthetic polyphenols. In this review, I will focus on the reaction of arylpropanoid and arylethanoid derivatives with acids, mainly boron tribromide but also simple protic acids. The former allows, in a one-pot procedure, aldol condensation, cyclisation, aromatisation and demethylation. The latter may be used... 

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