STUDIES ON THE SYNTHESIS OF THE SPIROKETAL FRAGMENT OF AZADIRACHTIN(Ⅰ)

The stereoselective synthesis of substituted 2,2,1]-bicyclo-heptan-2-one 12,a supposed intermediate to the spiroketal fragment of azadi-rachtin was described.When 12 was treated with mCPBA in CH_2Cl_2 in the pres-ence of excess amount of solid sodium bicarbonate,only 13 was obtained.Thespiroketal intermediate 20 was converted from 9 through 5 steps by an alterna-tive route.