Synthesis of o,m-cymene-cored biaryls through a carbanion-induced ring transformation strategy

Aromatic compounds derived from two or more 'isoprene units' are the core structures found in several natural products of biological importance. Among them, cymene derivatives are of particular interest due to the unique structural and biological properties associated with them. In this letter, we describe an expeditious synthesis of cymene-cored unsymmetrical biaryls functionalized with donor and acceptor substituents prepared in excellent yields by the carbanion-induced ring transformation of 2H-pyran-2-ones with ketones.