Mercuric acetate driven cyclization of γ-hydroxy-δ, ε-unsaturated urethanes 1a, b proceeded regio- and stereoselectively to afford cis-2-acetoxymercurymethyl-3-hydroxypyrrolidines 2a, b, respectively. These were transformed into the key intermediates for several biologically active compounds.
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Takahata et al. (1989) studied this question.