An efficient route to the musk odorant (R,Z)-5-muscenone via base-metal-catalysis

Muscenone® is a valuable perfume ingredient consisting of a mixture of the E- and Z-isomers of 1 in racemic form as the major constituents. Among them, it is the (R,Z)-isomer, which exhibits the most favorable musk character and by far the lowest threshold; for these superior olfactory properties, pure (R,Z)-1 has recently been commercialized too. We present an efficient route to this precious compound based on an iron-catalyzed cross coupling reaction, a molybdenum-catalyzed alkyne metathesis for the formation of the macrocyclic ring, and a nickel-catalyzed semi-hydrogenation.

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