Preparation of (–)-(7R)-7-acetyl-7-hydroxy-4,4-dimethoxy-5,6,7,8-tetrahydro-naphthalen-1(4H)-one, a chiral AB-synthon for anthracycline synthesis

The (–)-(R)-dienone (13) was prepared in 10 steps from the known 8-hydroxy-5-methoxy-2, 3-dihydronaphthalen-1(4H)-one (2), and the chirality at C(7) in (13) corresponds to that found at C(9) in the naturally occurring anthracyclines related to daunomycin.Ronald N. Warrener, Paul S. Gee and Richard A. Russel