Synthesis of Urinary Metabolites of Retinoic Acid

Urinary metabolites 5-methyl-5-[2-(2,6,6-trimethyl -3-oxo-1-cyclohexen-1-yl)-vinyl]-2-tetrahydrofuranone (1) and 5-[2-(6-hydroxymethyl-2, 6-dimethyl-3-oxo-1- cyclohexen-1-yl)vinyl]-5-methyl-2-tetrahydrofuranone (2) of retinoic acid have been synthesized from 4-[2,2,6-trimethyl-3-(tetrahydro-2 H -pyran-2-yl)oxy-1-cyclohexen-1-yl]-3-buten-2-one (4) and methyl 2-(3,3-ethylenedioxy-1-butenyl)-1, 3-dimethyl-4-oxo-2-cyclohexene-1-carboxylate (5) .