Yingpeng Su, Qinqin Ling, Caixia Yang, Zhengang Han, Haiyang He, Shufang Zhang, Jinjin Chang, Xinyu Zhao, Congde Huo, Xiaolei Wang
A facile synthesis of dihydrocoumarin derivatives has been successfully accessed with ortho -hydroxyphenyl-substituted para -quinone methides ( p -QMs) and ortho -hydroxy aromatic aldimines. The reaction proceeds through a Michael addition followed by an intramolecular phenolysis sequence. This cascade strategy provides structurally diverse 4-aryl-3,4-dihydrocoumarins in good to excellent yields with excellent diastereoselectivity. Moreover, this versatile method exhibits significant promise for the synthesis of natural products and biologically relevant compounds that possess a substituted coumarin skeleton.