A novel synthesis of substituted naphthalenes via Claisen rearrangement and RCM reaction

A novel synthesis of substituted naphthalenes was studied. Starting from isovanillin, basing on Claisen rearrangement and ring-closing metathesis (RCM), a series of 1-alkoxy-2-methoxynaphthalenes and 1-alkoxy-2-methoxy-8-methylnaphthalenes together with a series of 2-alkoxy-3-methoxynaphthalenes were synthesized.