Abstract
A stepwise synthetic strategy has been devised to access 2-(2-oxo-2-arylethyl)-4H-chromen-4-ones from 2-hydroxyacetophenone, offering a structurally oxidized analogue
of 2-(2-phenylethyl)chromones (PECs). The key substrate, 2-(methylthio)-4H-chromen-4-one, is readily synthesized in two steps from a protected 2-hydroxyacetophenone.
Under mild reaction conditions (25 °C) in DMSO/KOH, 2-(methylthio)-4H-chromen-4-one undergoes nucleophilic substitution with various arylmethyl ketones
to furnish 2-(2-oxo-2-arylethyl)-4H-chromen-4-ones in moderate to good yields. The transformation exhibits broad substrate
scope and excellent functional group tolerance. Notably, the resulting 2-(2-oxo-2-arylethyl)-4H-chromen-4-ones can serve as valuable intermediates for the development of medicinally
and materially relevant functionalized molecules, highlighting the synthetic and applicative
significance of this methodology.
Key words
Ketene dithioacetal - chromones - arylmethyl ketones - nucleophilic substitution