Source of materialThe title compound has been obtainedbyketalization of (7aSR)-7a-prop-2-ynyl-1,2,3,6,7,7a-hexahydro-5H -inden-5-one with freshly distilled ethylene glycol in dry benzene under reflux over 6hand in the presence of p -toluenesulfonic acid monohydrate as an acid catalyst [1]. Purification of the crude product by column chromatography (cyclohexane/ethyl acetate,8 0:20) and recrystallization from chloroformand petroleum ether (1:2, v / v )gave the ketal product as colorless crystals suitable for X-ray structure analysis (m.p. 353-354 K, R f =0.49).
DiscussionThe titlecompound was prepared as part of our study of diastereoselective cyclopropanization of centrosymmetricsubstituted indenones [2]. Wei ntroduced as eries of new tricyclic a -cyclopropyl indenone structures [3] as suitable intermediates in propellane synthesis. The racemicc ompound crystallizesc entrosymmetrically and the asymmetric unit contains two independentm olecules, which have no significant differences. The enantiomeric molecules show an antiparallel orientation. The significant shorter C9-C10 (1.328(5)Å)and C23-C24 (1.328(5) Å)bonds indicate the localization of the double bond of the five-membered ring. The simultaneous migration of the double bond during ketalization has also been observed in other systems and is best known phenomenon in the steroidal synthesis [4,5]