Herein, a convergent, practicable and first total synthesis of the natural product, (±)-methyl salvianolate A, is reported. The key features of the approach are the use of a Horner–Wadsworth–Emmons reaction and the protection of multiple hydroxyls using silyl protecting groups. The employment of the readily removable silyl protecting groups allows the synthesis of (±)-methyl salvianolate A and its derivatives on a reasonably large scale.
