Efficient synthesis of the key intermediate triptophenolide methyl ether for the synthesis of (−)-triptolide

An efficient synthesis of triptophenolide methyl ether 4 from the readily available abietic acid 3 in nine steps is described and successfully applied to the synthesis of (−)-triptolide 1. The route is of characteristic of low cost, high yield and easy operation. In addition, every reaction in this route has been successfully scaled-up to a 100 g substrate level without loss of yield.