First synthesis of naturally occurring (±)-epi-conocarpan

(±)-epi-Conocarpan 1 was synthesized via the key intermediate 5-bromo-cis-2-(4-methoxyphenyl)-3-methyl-2,3-dihydrobenzofuran 6 which was synthesized by a ruthenium(II) porphyrin-catalyzed intramolecular C–H insertion reaction using aryl tosylhydrazone salt 5 as the carbene source, starting from the commercially available 5-bromo-2-hydroxyacetophenone.