Aim To synthesize naturally occurring (-) methyl2,2-dimethyl-3-hydroxychromanyl-6-formate. Methods Sharpless' asymmetric dihydroxylation wasemployed to construct the 3-hydroxychroman. Results First asymmetric synthesis of (-) methyl 2,2-dimethyl-3-hydroxychromanyl-6-formate (1) was accomplished starting from methyl 4-hydroxy-benzoate(2), and the absolute configuration was established. Conclusion A useful method for constructingchiral 3-hydroxychroman by employing Sharpless' asymmetric dihydroxylation is achieved.
