Oxidative rearrangement of 2-alkoxy-3,4-dihydro-2H-pyrans: stereocontrolled synthesis of 4,5-cis-disubstituted tetrahydrofuranones including whisky and cognac lactones and crobarbatic acid

Oxidation of 2-alkoxy-3,4-dihydro-2H-pyrans 3 with dimethyldioxirane or MTO/urea–H2O2 followed by Jones oxidation leads to rearrangement and stereocontrolled formation of 4,5-cis-disubstituted tetrahydrofuranones. The method is applied to the synthesis of the whisky lactone 9, cognac lactone 10 and crobarbatic acid 17.