Keywords: Oxidation / Olefination / Palladium / StereochemistryOxidation of 4,6-heptadienoic acid systems with hydrogen peroxide in the presence of a catalytic amount of diphenyl diselenide leads to 5-(3-hydroxypropenyl)dihydrofuran-2-one systems with defined relative configuration at the 4 and 7 positions (carboxylic acid numbering). A system having a six-membered ring as part of the s-trans-diene system was an intermediate in a strigol total synthesis; a second system lacking the six-membered ring is the subject of the present publication. We accomplished a stereoselective synthesis of