Regioselective Pd-catalyzed synthesis and application of 3-methyl-5-bromo-2-pyrone toward keto-phomactin A.

[Structure: see text] An efficient one-step synthetic protocol for 3-methyl-5-bromo-2-pyrone was developed using the C3-selective Pd-catalyzed coupling reaction of 3,5-dibromo-2-pyrone with Me3Al-dimethylaminoethanol complex. A subsequent seven-step reaction sequence provided a cyclohexenyl bromide, which served as the key intermediate for the synthesis of the keto analogue of phomactin A, in 31% overall yield.