This article presents the direct oxidation of limonene-oxide 1 with KIO4 in water, which is the best way to obtain the keto-aldehyde 3, an important intermediate in natural product synthesis. The cyclization of keto-aldehyde 3 with acidic Al2O3 proceeds chemoselectively to give ketone 4. These two reactions together increase the overall yield of ketone 4 to about 70% compared to 8% previously reported in the literature¹.
terpenoid chirons; epoxide ring opening; KIO4 oxidation; chemoselective cyclization