A concise synthesis of rooperol and related 1,5-diarylpent-1-en-4-ynes

Two powerful strategies: rapid construction of allylic alkynoates via cyclopropenium ion chemistry and mild, palladium-catalyzed decarboxylative coupling were employed in a concise, 5-steps synthesis of the natural product rooperol. The overall approach allows the preparation of rooperol analogs in as few as 3 steps.