Formal synthesis of a selective estrogen receptor modulator with tetrahydrofluorenone structure using [3 + 2 + 1] cycloaddition of yne-vinylcyclopropanes and CO

• Jing Zhang,
• Guanyu Zhang,
• Hongxi Bai and
• Zhi-Xiang Yu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1639–1644, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.127

• the 6/5/5 skeleton, and a Heck coupling reaction constructing the [3.2.1] framework, are the two key reactions in this 11-step synthesis. Keywords: [3 + 2 + 1] cycloaddition; selective estrogen receptor modulators; synthesis; tetrahydrofluorenone; Introduction Estrogen receptors (ERs) [1][2] are

• frontier for treating breast cancer, osteoporosis, cardiovascular disease, neuropathies, and other diseases. Merck scientists found that molecules with tetrahydrofluorenone (6/5/6 tricyclic motif) can act as SERMs. For example, molecules I and II (Scheme 1A) displayed low nanomolar affinity for ERβ and

• bridged tetrahydrofluorenone derivatives, represented by molecules V and VI, showed significant ERβ binding affinity and high selectivity [15][16][17][18][19]. So far, there are only two routes for accessing bridged tetrahydrofluorenone derivative VI. The first one shown in Scheme 2A includes a Robinson