S1 Asymmetric synthesis of corsifuran A by an enantioselective reduction Harry Adams, Nathan J. Gilmore, Simon Jones,* Mark P. Muldowney, † Stephan H. von Reuß § and Ramesh Vemula Department of Chemistry, University of Sheffield, Dainton Building, Brook Hill, Sheffield. UK. S6 1XD. † Shasun Pharma Solutions Ltd., Dudley, Northumberland. UK. NE23 7QG. § Institute Für Organische Chemie, Universität Hamburg. Martin-Luther-King-Platz 6,D-29146 Hamburg, Germany. *Corresponding author: simon.jones@sheffield.ac.uk Supplementary Information Contents Preparation of 2-bromo-5-methoxyphenylacetic acid 4 Preparation of 1-(4-methoxyphenyl)-2-(2-bromo-4- methoxyphenyl)ethanone 3 Preparation of racemic 1-(2-bromo-5-methoxy-phenyl)-2-(3- methoxy-phenyl)-ethanol 2 Preparation of 2S-(2-bromo-5-methoxy-phenyl)-1-(4-methoxy- phenyl)-ethanol 2 Preparation of 2R-(2-bromo-5-methoxy-phenyl)-1-(4-methoxy- phenyl)-ethanol 2 Preparation of 3, 4-dimethoxydeoxybenzoin 8 Preparation of 1-(4-methoxy-phenyl)-2-(3-methoxy-phenyl)-ethanol 7 General procedure for preparation of Corsifuran A 1 by palladium- catalyzed intramolecular C-O bond formation Preparation of (R)-Corsifuran A 1 by copper-catalyzed intramolecular C-O bond formation Copies of 1 H NMR data Copies of 13 C NMR data Copies of chromatograms X-Ray Structures S2 S2 S3 S3 S4 S4 S5 S5 S6 S8 S14 S20 S26