Routes utilizing acid 2a and several derivatives as the immediate precursors of 1 were explored to no avail? The problems encountered during the attempted carboxyl to keto conversion led us to consider inserting the carbonyl group into 1 in masked form. The efficiency of the palladium-catalyzed coupling of aromatic iodides with monosubstituted acetylenes4s5 combined with the number of means available for hydration of acetylenes ...
