Total syntheses of norartocarpin and artocarpin

The total syntheses of norartocarpin and artocarpin, two biologically interesting natural flavonoids with two regioisomeric isoprenyl side chains, were achieved for the first time via a linear reaction sequence of 9 and 12 steps with the overall yields of 14% and 3.5%, respectively, starting from commercially available 1,3,5-trimethoxybenzene.