On the Stereochemistry of Bicyclo[n.2.0]Alkanediols

We recently reported a facile synthesis for bicyclo-[n.2.0]alkanediols of the general structure 1. 1 The recent demonstration2 that cis-bicyclo[3.2.0]heptane-1,7-diol(3) can be converted to the novel, highly-strained trans-bicyclo[4.1.0]heptane system increases the interest in this class of compounds. Comparison of our diols with materials used by Paukstelis and Kao in the rearrangement studies2 and further work in our laboratory has shown that the diols reported in our initial communication are trans-diols and should be assigned structures 4 and 5.