Transformations of bio-sourced 4-hydroxyphenylpropanoids based on olefin metathesis

Abstract

4-Hydroxyphenylpropanoids represent an important class of natural products directly extracted from plants or derived from lignocelullosic materials. They are phenol derivatives equipped with a terminal propenyl group, which is perfectly suited for applications involving olefin metathesis processes. In this review, we show that conditions have been found to achieve their self-metathesis, cross metathesis as well as some sequential transformations with metathesis as a key step with high yields and controlled stereoselectivities. Some applications in multi-step synthesis of biological relevant natural products involving metathetic transformations of 4-hydroxyphenylpropanoids are also reported.