Abstract
During a series of studies aimed at the total synthesis of pentacyclic triterpenes1 we have examined the reaction of enollactones of type 1 with a variety of Grignard reagents. 1c,2 In one of our problems we required the organometallic reagent 2a derived from the title compound 2b. A previous literature report for the preparation of this compound involved the reaction of α-acetylbutyrolactone 3 with aqueous HBr followed by steam distillation.3 In our hands the yields of 2b via this route were non-reproducible and at best, less than 15%.