Pheromone synthesis. Part 243: Synthesis and biological evaluation of (3R,13R,1′S)-1′-ethyl-2′-methylpropyl 3,13-dimethylpentadecanoate, the major component of the sex pheromone of Paulownia bagworm, Clania variegata, and its stereoisomers

All of the four stereoisomers of (1′S)-1′-ethyl-2′-methylpropyl 3,13-dimethylpentadecanoate, the major component of the female sex pheromone of Clania variegata, were synthesized by employing olefin cross metathesis as the key reaction and starting from (R)- or (S)-2-methyl-1-butanol, (R)- or (S)-citronellal, and (S)-2-methyl-3-pentanol. Their bioassay revealed the (3R,13R,1′S)-isomer as the bioactive one, whose more efficient synthesis was achieved in two different ways by employing Wittig reaction as the key step.