Chapter 5.3 Five-membered ring systems: Furans and benzofurans

TLDR: A review of the reactions and synthesis of furans, benzofurans, and their derivatives can be found in this article, where a 2-substituted furan was shown to undergo spirocyclization at the 2-position, irrespective of the length of the carbon linker.

Abstract: Publisher Summary This chapter reviews papers that were published in 2006 on the reactions and syntheses of furans, benzofurans, and their derivatives. Like 2005, many new naturally occurring molecules containing tetrahydrofuran and dihydrofuran rings were identified in 2006. Several examples reported in 2006 demonstrate that 2-substituted furans underwent spirocyclization at the 2-position. The reaction of a furan tethered at the 2-position to an iminium ion gave a spiro-2,5-dihydrofuran derivative as the sole diastereoisomer. This spirocyclization that proceeded irrespective of the length of the carbon linker was employed to construct the ABC tricyclic core of manzamine A. Spirocyclization was also the reaction pathway under radical conditions if furan was tethered to a radical precursor at the 2-position. When furans were tethered to silyl enol ethers at the 2-position, spiroannulation also occurred at the 2-position under electrochemical conditions. Furan that was loaded on a soluble dendritic polyglycerol support could be efficiently oxidized electrochemically to a 2,5-dihydro-2,5-dimethoxyfuran, which served as an intermediate in the synthesis of a pyrrole library.