Reactions of diterpenoids on solid supports II. Behavior of di- and tricyclic diterpenoids on alumina containing oxidants
The behavior of epimanool (1), epimanool oil, larixol (2), cis-abienol (3) and methyl dehydroabietate (4) on alumina impregnated with oxidants (H2CrO4 and KMnO4) has been studied. This has led to the methyl ketone (5) and norambrenolide (8) - precursors of the perfume substances 14,15,17-trinorlabdane-8,13-dione (6), 8α-hydroxy-14,15-bisnorlabd-II-en-13-one (7), and methyl 7-oxodehydroabietate (14). α-Levantenolide (11) has been synthesized in one stage from cis-abienol (3)for the first time.
Chemistry of labdanediol from Cistus ladaniferus, L. synthesis of 12-Nor-ambreinolide and α and β-levantenolides
Abstract Labdanediol, 2 , the major component of the neutral part of Cistus ladaniferus L, was transformed into 12- nor -ambreinolide, precursor of ambrox ® , in three steps with an overall yield of 70%. Molecular modelling techniques have been used to determine the stereochemistry of the byproducts of these reactions. The selenylation and elimination reactions of α and βlevantanolides, obtained from labdanediol, 2 , were used to synthetise α and β-levantenolides.
Rapid determination of the effectiveness of insect resistant packaging
A technique was developed to evaluate the usefulness of odour barriers and to determine the effect of package content in consumer size packages on resistance to infestation by insects. Female Plodia interpunctella (Hubner) could distinguish sealed packets containing food from non-food items as a suitable site for oviposition. Utilization ofthis technique will reduce the time needed to evaluate new materials for use in insect resistant packaging.