Short Synthesis of the Antidiabetic Octaketide Ethyl 2-(2,3,4-Trimethoxy-6-octanoylphenyl) acetate

A facile and practical approach for the synthesis of ethyl 2(2,3,4-trimethoxy-6-octanoylphenyl) acetate, an antidiabetic octaketide analogue of cytosporone B, is described. Unlike known approaches for the synthesis of cytosporones and their analogues, the key step of the developed route is a Friedel-Crafts alkylation of 1-(3,4,5-trimethoxyphenyl) octan-1-one with ethyl chloro(methylthio) acetate, followed by desulfurization.