Stereochemistry of oxacarbene formation in the photolysis of oxacyclopentan-3-ones
Abstract
Photolysis of cis and trans-3a,4,5,6,7,7a-hexaudro-3a-methylbenzofuran-3(2H)-one (7)in methanol gives similar mixtures of oxacarbene-derived acetals, showing that oxacarbene formation proceeds via an alkyl acyl biradical intermediate.