Syntheses of mycophenolic acid (MPA, 1) and its analogs were carried out using palladium- catalyzed Heck carbonylation and olefination. Thus, the reaction of 2-bromo-3, 5- dimethoxybenzyl alcohol (4) in toluene under carbon monoxide at 180° C in the presence of palladium catalyst using sodium carbonate as a base gave 5, 7-dimethoxyphthalide (5) in 88% yield. The phthalide 7 was converted to 6-iodo-5, 7-dimethoxy-4-methylphthalide (8). ...
[Baker, Robert W.; Liu, Song; Sargent, Melvyn V.; Skelton, Brian W.; White, Allan H. Australian Journal of Chemistry, 1997 , vol. 50, # 8 p. 831 - 840]