Convenient Preparation and Spectroscopic Characterization of 7<i>R</i>-Hydroxymatairesinol

Abstract

The preparation of 7R-HMR (allo-hydroxymatairesinol) is reported by: (a) NaBH4 kinetic reduction of 7R/7S diastereomeric mixture; and (b) epimerization of the C7 hydroxyl group by Mitsunobu reaction and subsequent ester hydrolysis. The availability of highly pure target compound (7R-HMR) made it possible to confirm the structure of the target compound and to complete the full spectroscopic characterization.

Keywords

• 7-hydroxymatairesinol (HMR)
• <i>allo</i>-hydroxymatairesinol
• lignans
• <i>Picea abies</i>