Efficient synthesis of the key intermediate triptophenolide methyl ether for the synthesis of (−)-triptolide

An efficient synthesis of triptophenolide methyl ether 4 from the readily available abietic acid 3 in nine steps is described and successfully applied to the synthesis of (−)-triptolide 1. The route is of characteristic of low cost, high yield and easy operation. In addition, every reaction in this route has been successfully scaled-up to a 100 g substrate level without loss of yield.

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