A new, practical synthesis of 2-methoxyestradiols.

An efficient and practical approach to synthesize moderate to large amounts of 2-methoxyestradiol (2-ME2) is described. The key step in the synthesis is the regioselective introduction of an acetyl group at the C-2 position of estradiol using a zirconium tetrachloride mediated Fries rearrangement carried out on estradiol diacetate. The seven step synthetic procedure readily gave 2-ME2 in 49% overall yield. Application of this method to the synthesis of 2-methoxy-7 alpha-methylestradiol is also described.