A concise total synthesis of puberulic acid, a potent antimalarial agent

Abstract

Efficient and practical total synthesis of puberulic acid has been accomplished via 8 steps, with 54% overall yield, and only two C–C bond formations, without the introduction of oxygen atoms into the core skeleton. Construction of the tropolone framework as the key transformation was achieved by multi-tandem oxidation of the aliphatic-triol, from D-(+)-galactose as the starting material.