Synthese von (±) Seychellen

A four step synthesis of Seychellene ( 1 ) is described. Intramolecular Diels-Alder reaction of dienon 2 furnished the tricyclic ketones 3 and 4 in good yield. Hydrogenation of 3 gave 5 and 6 . The higher reactivity of 6 with methyllithium compared to 5 allowed the selective preparation of 8 , which, on subsequent acid-catalyzed rearrangment afforded Seychellen in 57,5% yield. In an analogues manner epi-Seychellene was synthetized via the intermediates 5 and 7 .