Highly Effective Synthetic Methods for Substituted 2-Arylbenzofurans Using [3,3]-Sigmatropic Rearrangement:  Short Syntheses of Stemofuran A and Eupomatenoid 6

A new and efficient synthesis of 2-arylbenzofurans has been achieved via a route involving acylation and subsequent [3,3]-sigmatropic rearrangement of oxime ethers. Its synthetic utility is demonstrated by a short synthesis of stemofuran A and eupomatenoid 6 in which no procedure for protection of the phenolic hydroxyl groups is needed.