Asymmetric glycolate alkylation approach towards total synthesis of 8-O.6′ and 8-O.4′-neolignans

The glycolate alkylation approach for the total synthesis of 8-O.6′ and 8-O.4′-neolignans has been optimized affording the natural products with high overall yields and excellent stereoselectivity. The developed approach can be further utilized towards the synthesis of many natural and unnatural neolignans. This is the first approach for the synthesis of neolignans using asymmetric glycolate alkylation approach.