Efficient one-pot synthetic approaches for cannabinoid analogues and their application to biologically interesting (-)-hexahydrocannabinol and (+)-hexahydrocannabinol

This Letter reports new and efficient synthetic approaches for biologically interesting cannabinoid analogues. The key strategies involve ethylenediamine diacetate/triethylalmine-catalyzed cyclization. As an application of this methodology, one-step synthesis of biologically active natural (-)-hexahydrocannabinol and its unnatural enantiomer (+)-hexahydrocannabinol was carried out. (c) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.