Synthetic studies of diphenyl ether and anthraquinone natural products

Organic chemistry is the most important branch of chemistry as it serves many aspects of human life. As the involvement of organic chemistry in our life increases, the need for the development of new synthetic methods for biologically active molecules also increases. The development of synthetic pathways for some biologically active compounds is explored in this thesis.;Chapter one describes the first total synthesis of littorachalcone. This method is straightforward and operationally convenient so that it can be easily scaled up and applied for the preparation of littorachalcone and related compounds. Chapter two outlines a synthetic approach towards topopyrone-D. Metal-hydrogen exchange and metal-halogen exchange reactions were studied as key steps.;Chapter three describes an approach towards the synthesis of rubianine which is a C-glycoside. In this chapter, various reactions were studied to make the C-glycoside bond to the anthraquinone moiety in an efficient manner. Chapter four describes a flexible synthesis for indoles. The effect of different substituents at the ortho-position of the starting aniline compound was studied.