Nucleophilic addition to C,C double bonds. III. Chemical reactivity of 1endo, 4endo: 5exo, 8exo-dimethano-1,2,3,4,4a,5,8,8a-octahydronaphthalen-10syn-ol and X-ray structure analysis of its p-nitrobenzoate

The title compound 1 is a further example of an olefinic alcohol that undergoes ether formation under basic conditions (→ 3) although the double bond is not activated by an electron-attracting group. This unusual reactivity is due to steric compression, which is increased in the 10-methyl analogue 2. This forms the corresponding ether 7 at a much higher rate. - In a deuteriated medium, base-catalysed cyclization of 1 gives the exo-deuteriated ether 6 , corresponding to trans-addition. - An X-ray structure analysis of 4 , the p-nitrobenzoate of 1 , is presented.