Reactions of 5α-hydroxy-steroids: the mechanism of backbone rearrangement in sulphuric acid–acetic acid–acetic anhydride
Abstract
Reaction of 4β-acetoxy-5α-hydroxycholestane (4) with D2SO4–DOAc–Ac2O gives the acetoxy-olefins (5)–(7) with no incorporation of deuterium; these observations exclude the intermediacy of olefin and cyclopropane intermediates in the backbone or partial backbone rearrangement.