Indanone Building Blocks from Lignin Related C-9 Plaform Molecules

<div> Lignin-based aryl 3-hydroxypropanones were converted into indanones via domino dehydration/Nazarov cyclization in the presence of a superacid. The cyclization was studied in detail, and the resulting indanones were engaged in two postfunctionalizations: a reduction/elimination domino sequence and a ring expansion. Lastly, the method has been successfully applied to the synthesis of the anti-Alzheimer drug donepezil. </div>