Horseradish peroxidase catalyzed oxidative cross-coupling reactions: the synthesis of ‘unnatural’ dihydrobenzofuran lignans

The possibility to afford by a biomimetic reaction ‘unnatural’ products, which could offer a better bioactivity profile than natural analogues, is outlined and the first applications to the synthesis of lignans and related compounds have been reported. Here we describe the synthesis of new heterodimers, having a phenylcoumaran skeleton, by horseradish peroxidase catalyzed cross-coupling reactions of methyl esters of substituted hydroxycinnamic acids.