Facile and efficient total synthesis of taspine

The facile and efficient total synthesis of taspine was achieved in 10 steps in high yield (16.5% overall) from commercially available isovanillin. Key steps in the synthesis are preparation of a symmetrical homodimer employing a classical Ullmann coupling reaction, and introduction of an allyl substituent by the Claisen rearrangement reaction. Significantly, the facile synthetic scheme proposed in this work has the characteristics of mild reaction conditions, inexpensive reagents, higher yield, and simple operation.