Palladium(II)-Catalyzed C-H Bond Activation/C-C and C-O Bond Formation Reaction Cascade: Direct Synthesis of Coumestans.

A palladium catalyzed cascade reaction of 4-hydroxycoumarins and in situ generated arynes has been developed for the direct synthesis of coumestans. This cascade strategy proceeds via C-H bond activation/C-O and C-C bond formations in a single reaction vessel. This methodology affords moderate to good yields of coumestans and is tolerant of a variety of functional groups including halide. The methodology was applied to the synthesis of natural product flemichapparin C.