“…The relative configuration of the lasiocarpic acid moiety has not been determined, although the decomposition of lasiocarpic acid, 2,3-dihydroxy-2-(l'-methoxyethyl)-3-methylbutanoic acid (III: R = OH), in hydrochloric acid to give (+)-2-methoxy-4-methyl-3-pentanone (IV) shows that lasiocarpic acid has the same absolute configuration at C(I') as heliotric acid, 2-hydroxy-2-(l'-methoxyethyl)-3-methylbutanoic acid (III:R = H) (Crowley & Culvenor, 1960). The absolute configuration of (-)-heliotric acid (Culvenor, Drummond & Price, 1954) has been established as (2S, I'R) by the chemical studies of Kochetkov, Likhosherstov & Kulakov (1969), and the relative configuration was confirmed from the X-ray crystal structure of heliotrine (I: R = R' = H) by Wodak (1975).…”