recrystallizations of diastereomeric salts prepared with (S)-(-)-alpha-methylbenzylamine and (R)-(+)-alpha-methylbenzylamine gave the starting materials for the four-step total syntheses of (S)-(-)-2,3-dihydro-2-(1-methylethenyl)-6-methoxybenzofuran (1a) and (R)-(+)-2,3-dihydro-2-(1-methylethenyl)-6-methoxybenzofuran (1b). Their absoluteconfiguration was established by chemical correlation.