Total synthesis of ribisin A

The first total synthesis of natural product ribisin A has been achieved in 11 steps from commercially available methyl α-d-glucopyranoside with 21.6% overall yield. The highly oxygenated benzofuran skeleton of this natural product was constructed, taking advantages of the inherent chirality of d-glucose, through the key reactions of Ferrier carbocyclization, Johnson iodination, Suzuki cross-coupling, and Wacker oxidative cyclization.