Facile access to some chiral building blocks. Synthesis of verbalactone and exophilin A

d-Glucono-1,5-lactone, an inexpensive carbohydrate, was elaborated into chiral building blocks readily applicable in synthesis via practical routes without involving any expensive reagents or tedious operations. Application of such chiral building blocks in total synthesis is then exemplified through construction of verbalactone and exophilin A. The latter compound has not been synthesized to date.