A general synthesis of 3-hydroxy-homophthalates is developed and applied to the synthesis of sclerin (1), a developed and applied to the synthesis of sclerin (1), a compound possessing plant-growth activity; the critical step in the synthesis of (1) can be considered as the controlled condensation of a dicarbonyl unit with a tricarbonyl unit, in analogy to the biogensis of polyketides.
