Scheme 4.
Divergent regioselectivity in 2-propanol mediated reductive couplings of dienes with paraformaldehyde and redox neutral couplings of ethanol.a
aYields are of material isolated by flash chromatography on silica gel. Diastereoselectivity was determined through 1H NMR analysis of crude reaction mixtures. dppb = bis-(diphenylphosphino)butane.