Synthetic studies toward to the first totalsynthesis of Floribundane B

Floribundane B is an iridoid recently isolated by D. I. M. de Mendon a and coworkers from the leaves and the bark of the trunk of Hymenodictyon floribundum B. L. Rob, a plant used in Angola folk medicine to treat fever. Our retrosynthetic analysis to Floribundane B has the Hydroxylactone 1 as key intermediate, which was obtained in moderated overall yield from the Baylis-Hillman adduct 2. Synthetic studies are on going to afford the first total synthesis of Floribundane B and to confirm the planar structure proposed by D. I. M. de Mendon a and coworkers.