A short synthesis of Dronedarone.

A modification of the Nenitzescu reaction was used to obtain Dronedarone from quinonimine 20 and 1,3-diketone 14 (R = CH2 CH2 CH2 NBu2 ) in a two-stage process in almost 55% overall yield. Our results represent significant improvement over other state-of-the-art methods as no extra steps for the decoration of the benzofuran core are required.