Stilbene derivatives have wide range of activities. In an effort to find other potential activities of this kind of compounds, 17 derivatives, including resveratrol, were synthesized. Twelve of them were evaluated for their antiviral potential against severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)-CoV-induced cytopathicity in Vero E6 cell culture. The result showed that SARS virus was totally inhibited by compounds 17 and 19 (

COMMUNICATION Qingwei Meng et al.

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The first enantioselective direct α‐hydroxylation of β‐oxo esters was developed by using phase‐transfer catalysis. 1‐Indanone‐derived 1‐adamantyl (1‐Ad) β‐oxo esters, in the presence of commercially available cumyl hydroperoxide and a cinchonine‐based ammonium salt, resulted in the corresponding products with 69–91 % yield and 65–74 % ee. The reaction had also been successfully scaled‐up to a gram quantity, and a similar yield was obtained without loss of the enantioselectivity.