Stereoselective synthesis of (3S,5S,6S)-tetrahydro-6-isopropyl-3,5-dimethylpyran-2-one; a C5-epimer of a component of a natural sex pheromone of the wasp Macrocentrus grandii, the larval parasitoid of the European corn borer Ostrinia nubilalis

Abstract: (3S,5S,6S)-Tetrahydro-6-isopropyl-3,5-dimethylpyran-2-one, a C5-epimer of a component of the natural sex pheromone of the wasp Macrocentrus grandii, the larval parasitoid of the European corn borer Ostrinia nubilalis, was synthesized starting from methyl l-valinate. The transformation includes a Kulinkovich cyclopropanation reaction, a cationic cyclopropyl-allyl rearrangement of cyclopropyl methanesulfonate, a diastereoselective alkylation of Oppolzer’s (N-propionyl)-(2R)-bornane-10,2-sultam and a diastereoselective hydrogenation using Wilkinson’s catalyst as the key steps. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]