Synthesis of 1,8,8-Trimethyl-6,10-dioxaspiro[4.5]dec-2-ene-1-ethanol; X-Ray Crystallography of (1RS,2SR)-1,8,8-Trimethyl-1-(prop-2'-enyl)-6,10-dioxaspiro[4.5]dec-2-yl Benzoate

Abstract

Reaction of 2-methyl-2-(prop-2′-enyl)cyclopentane-1,3-dione (2) with 2,2-dimethylpropane-1,3-diol gave 1,8,8-trimethyl-1-(prop-2′-enyl)-6,10-dioxaspiro[4.5]decan-2-one (3), hydride reduction of which afforded a 1:1 epimeric mixture of the corresponding alcohols (4a) and (4b). They were separated, and the derived benzoates (5a) and (5b) were each subjected to a three-step sequence of oxidative cleavage, borohydride reduction and silylation to give the pure epimers (8a) and (8b) of 1,8,8-trimethyl-1-(2′-t-butyldimethylsilyloxyethyl)-6,10-dioxaspiro[4.5]dec-2-yl benzoate. Flash vacuum pyrolysis of a mixture of these epimeric benzoates (8a,b) gave an almost quantitative yield of 1,8,8-trimethyl-1-(2′-t-butyldimethylsilyloxyethyl)-6,10-dioxaspiro[4.5]dec-2-ene (9a), treatment of which with tetrabutylammonium fluoride afforded the corresponding alcohol (9b). The relative stereochemistry of (1RS,2SR)-1,8,8-trimethyl-1-(prop-2′-enyl)-6,10-dioxaspiro [4.5]dec-2-yl benzoate (5b) was established by X-ray crystallography.