A One-Step Synthesis of the Depsidone Furfuric Acid: Evidence for an Artifact in the Isolation From a Lichen

Abstract

The structurally unique depsidone furfuric acid (1) has been prepared in one step by the acid-catalysed alkylation of methyl p- orsellinate (6) or of atranorin (4) with physodalic acid (7). This mode of synthesis gives credence to the proposal that (1) is an artefact of the isolation procedure rather than a true metabolite of the lichen Pseudevernia furfuracea .