A facile approach to highly functional trisubstituted furans via intramolecular Wittig reactions.

An efficient and mild synthesis of trisubstituted furans, starting from α,β-unsaturated ketones, tributylphosphine, and acyl chlorides, is described. The strategy employs the intramolecular Wittig protocol as a key step to install the crucial furan ring, leading to a wide variety of highly functional furans in one step.