Racemic 2,6-dimethyioctyl formate (1), a synthetic analog of the aggregation pheromone of two species ofTribolium beetles, has been obtained in six steps and in 28 % overall yield starting from methyl ethyl ketone, vinyl bromide, and 2-methylpropenal. The key step of the synthesis is the sigmatropic [3,3]-rearrangement of 4-ethyl-2,4-dimethyl-1,5-hexadien-3-ol (5) to 2,6-dimethyl-5-octenal (6).