First total syntheses and absolute configuration of rugulactone and 6(R)-(4′-oxopent-2′-enyl)-5,6-dihydro-2H-pyran-2-one

The first efficient total syntheses of rugulactone and 6(R)-(4′-oxopent-2′-enyl)-5,6-dihydro-2H-pyran-2-one have been achieved in six steps with 51% and 48% overall yield, respectively. The key steps are Jacobsen's hydrolytic kinetic resolution (HKR), Horner-Wadsworth-Emmons (HWE) homologation, and ring-closing metathesis reaction.