Facile Synthesis of Natural Alkoxynaphthalene Analogues from Plant Alkoxybenzenes

Analogues of the bioactive natural alkoxynaphthalene pycnanthulignene D were synthesized by an efficient method. The starting plant allylalkoxybenzenes (<b>1</b>) are easily available from the plant essential oils of sassafras, dill, and parsley. The target 1-arylalkoxynaphthalenes (<b>5</b>) exhibited antiproliferative activity in a phenotypic sea urchin embryo assay