“…The solvent was removed under vacuum at 50 8C (from 15 mbar to 0.2 mbar) and the residue purified by flash chromatography on silica gel (petroleum ether/tert-butyl methyl ether, 2 : 1; R f 0.10). Recrystallization from diethyl ether afforded 17 as colorless crystals; yield: 265 mg (95%), mp 57 8C; IR (KBr): n Ä 3001 (m), 2939 (w), 1708 (s), 1614 (m), 1588 (w), 1515 (m), 1500 (s), 1460 (m), 1440 (s), 1405 (w), 1364 (m), 1304 (s), 1287 (w), 1263 (w), 1209 (s), 1193 (w), 1159 (s), 1114 (s), 1036 (s), 1029 (s), 841 cm À1 (w); UV (acetonitrile, c 2.19 ¥ 10 À4 mol/L): l max (log e) 201 (4.81), 230 (4.10, sh), 284 nm (3.76); 1 H NMR (CDCl 3 , 300 MHz): d 2.13 (s, 6H), 2.68 (m, 4H), 2.77 (m, 4H), 3.81 (s, 6H), 6.40 (s, 1H), 6.86 (s, 1H); 13 C NMR (CDCl 3 , 125 MHz): d 24.30 (t), 29.87 (q), 44.15 (t), 55.54 (q), 95.30 (d), 120.76 (s), 131.11 (d), 156.72 (s), 208.78 (s); MS (EI, 70 eV, 55 8C): m/z (%) 279 (8), 278 (40, M ), 222 (14), 221 (100), 77 (19), 163 (8), 151 (7), 149 (13), 147 (6), 91 (8) 2,4-Bis(2-oxobutan-4-yl)-1,3,5-trimethoxybenzene (18): A mixture of 701 mg (10.0 mmol) of MVK and 420 mg (2.50 mmol) of 12 in 10 mL of acetonitrile was cooled to 0 8C under argon. A solution 1.76 g (10.0 mmol) of 50% aqueous HBF 4 in 2 mL of acetonitrile was added slowly under vigorous stirring.…”