The diastereoselective [2,3]-Wittig rearrangement of a tertiary bisallylic ether (8) is described. The stereochemical outcomes for rearranged products were determined. The effects of reaction conditions on selectivities were investigated. Matsuccocus female sex pheromones 1–3 were efficiently synthesized via this rearrangement.
A convergent, general synthesis of (2E,4E)-4,6,10,12-tetramethyltrideca-2,4-dien-7-one (matsuone, 1) and five closely related analogs (2–6), which serve as sex pheromone components of female Matsucoccus pine scales, is described. The aldehydes 8a and 8b were obtained via a reaction sequence in which the key step is a [2,3]-Wittig sigmatropicrearrangement of the oxazoline ether of bisallylic tertiary