A concise and efficient total synthesis of α-mangostin and ß-mangostin from Garcinia mangostana.

The concise, efficient synthesis of alpha-mangostin is described in eight simple steps with 8.3% overall yield. Highlights include a practical approach to construct the isopentene groups and other diverse groups at C-2 and C-8 of the xanthene skeleton through Claisen rearrangement and Wittig reaction. Meanwhile the first total synthesis of beta-mangostin is presented with a similar approach.