Total synthesis of natural product marmycin A was studied. An expeditious synthetic strategy for the key fragment 8-amino-3-methylbenz [a] anthraquinone (1) was established with decarboxylative alkylation, Pd (OAc) 2-catalyzed cyclization, aromatization, and C− N coupling as the key steps. However, final assembly of marmycin A was hampered by the failure to obtain the carbohydrate fragment 2. Instead, a small library of desmethyl ...