Abstract: Lignans are widely distributed in the plant kingdom. Among lignans, many dibenzylbutane lignans and their analogues exhibit a strong bioactivity. A novel synthetic route to dibenzylbutane lignans using simple aldehydes as the starting materials is described. The method involves Stobbe Condensation and condensation of aromatic aldehyde and alkylation to give the complete skeleton of lignans. Then, by the resolution of (-)-diacid, a simple separation of threo- and erythro-isomers and structural modification, the target materials were obtained. Five dibenzylbutane lignans and eight dibenzylbutyl ether lignans were synthesized. Bioactivity results indicate that some compounds showed better activities against the HIV and herpes virus, and bioactivity is greatly affected by the skeleton configuration.

Key words: Dibenzylbutane lignans, Stobbe condensation, Alkylation, Antivirus activity