PROTECTING GROUP IMPROVEMENT BY ISOTOPIC-SUBSTITUTION - APPLICATION TO THE SYNTHESIS OF THE QUINONE SYSTEM OF FREDERICAMYCIN-A

Use of a trideuteriomethoxy group for phenol protection, instead of the classical methoxy group, serves to suppress an unwanted intramolecular hydrogen transfer during a radical cyclization experiment, and leads to a spiro compound of a type that can be converted into the spiro diketone-quinone system of the antitumour agent, fredericamycin A.