• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.19-24
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• 2004

The facile synthesis of a series of 2-(4-hydroxyphenyl)benzofurans (4a-e) is described. The one-pot reaction of 4-substituted phenols with the chloride 1 in the presence of zinc chloride afforded 3-methylthio-2-(4-acetoxyphenyl)benzofurans (2a-e). The compounds 4a-e were obtained from the hydrolysis of 2a-e followed by the desulfurization of the resulting 3-methylthio-2-(4-hydroxyphenyl)benzofurans (3a-e). 5-Methyl-3-p-toluoyl-2 -[4-(3-diethylaminopropoxy)phenyl]benzofuran (7), a $\beta$-amyloid aggregation inhibitor, was synthesized by three steps starting from 4a.