We dedicate this paper to Prof. Kenneth W. Hedberg on the occasion of his 95th birthday.
A pyrone Diels–Alder strategy was developed for the synthesis of the cyclophane natural product, cavicularin. The strategy uses a vinyl sulfone as an alkyne equivalent dienophile. An enantioselective variant delivered (+)-cavicularin.
Key words
Diels–Alder - pyrone - cyclophane - chirality - total synthesis