LAUSR

Levulinic acid (LA) is acknowledged one of the most promising biomass-derived platform molecules, and can be transformed into various value-added chemicals. Here, we report a new reaction process for the valorization of levulinic acid derivatives under transition-metal free condition. The protocol combined with the conversion of the levulinate to tosylhydrazone and base promoted arylation, acylation, and etherification cross-coupling. Moreover, our method was applied to synthesize three biologically active molecules,  rac-curcumene,  rac-xanthorrhizol and rac-4,7-dimethyl-l-tetralone. This reaction discloses a new avenue for the high-value utilization of platform molecules.