Titanocene(III) Chloride mediated radical induced synthesis of 4-benzylidene substituted tetrahydrofuran, a typical lignan skeleton, has been accomplished in good yield through addition-elimination route in racemic as well as in optically active forms. The method has been applied to the synthesis of furano lignans, magnofargesin (1) and 7'-epimagnofargesin (2) in optically active forms.

A study towards diversity-oriented synthesis of optically active cyclopentane fused bicyclic frameworks has been accomplished. The common intermediate was prepared from commercially available starting material (S)-carvone. The observations on competition between Grubbs-II catalyzed ring closing metathesis (RCM) and ring closing carbonyl-olefin metathesis (RCCOM) were the key features of the study.