Synthesis of a tyrosinase inhibitor by consecutive ethenolysis and cross-metathesis of crude cashew nutshell liquid

A convenient and sustainable three-step synthesis of the tyrosinase inhibitor 2-hydroxy-6-tridecylbenzoic acid was developed that starts directly from the anacardic acid component of natural cashew nutshell liquid (CNSL). Natural CNSL contains 60–70% of anacardic acid as a mixture of several double bond isomers. The anacardic acid component was converted into a uniform starting material by ethenolysis of the entire mixture and subsequent selective precipitation of 6-(ω-nonenyl)salicylic acid from cold pentane. The olefinic side chain of this intermediate was elongated by its cross-metathesis with 1-hexene using a first generation Hoveyda–Grubbs catalyst, which was reused as precatalyst in a subsequent hydrogenation step. Overall, the target compound was obtained in an overall yield of 61% based on the unsaturated anacardic acid content and 34% based on the crude CNSL.