Reinvestigation of Mucohalic Acids, Versatile and Useful Building Blocks for Highly Functionalized α,β-Unsaturated γ-Butyrolactones

[reaction: see text] Mucohalic acids (mucochloric acid (1, 3,4-dichloro-5-hydroxy-5H-furan-2-one) and mucobromic acid (2, 3,4-dibromo-5-hydroxy-5H-furan-2-one)) are inexpensive, commercially available starting materials with multiple functional groups. These compounds have been modified by way of reduction followed by Suzuki cross-coupling reactions involving arylboronic acids to afford highly functionalized alpha,beta-unsaturated gamma-butyrolactones in excellent yield. The synthetic utility of these building blocks was effectively demonstrated through preparation of the antiinflammatory drug Vioxx.