Synthesis of [1-14C] nordolichoic acid

Abstract Dolichoic acid and [1- 14 C] dolichoic acid were synthesized from polyprenol isolated from the leaves of the Ginkgo biloba . Grignard coupling with 3-bromo-2-methylpropyl benzyl ether afforded, after deprotection, the 3-polyprenyl-2-methyl propanol. The alcohol was converted into a mesylate followed by a one-carbon elongation via cyanide and hydrolysis of the nitrile to the acid.