A general, flexible, ring closing metathesis (RCM) based strategy for accessing the fused furo[3,2-b]furanone moiety present in diverse bioactive natural products

A simple and straightforward methodology of general utility to construct sterically encumbered furo[3,2-b]furanone scaffolds present in a diverse range of bioactive natural products is delineated. The methodology emanates from readily available Morita–Baylis–Hillman adducts and employs sequential ring closing metathesis and oxy-Michael addition cascade as the key steps.