Abstract
In connection with our work concerning synthesis of insect pheromones,1 we became interested in reports by Lorette and Howard2 in which were described a method for preparing alpha-allyl ketones. These authors reported that diallyl ketals (4), available by exchange between a ketone (1), allyl alcohol and 2,2-dimethoxypropane, suffer acid-catalyzed elimination to yield intermediate allyl enol ethers (5/6) which undergo subsequent Claisen rearrangement to provide the alpha-allyl ketone products (2/3). The scheme on the following page summarizes the conversions involved.