Catalysis by Di-n-butyltin Oxide of a Tertiary Ketol Rearrangement: Synthesis of Intermediates and Analogues of Valine and lsoleucine Biosynthesis ... David HG Crout* and Daniel L. Rathbone Department of Chemistry, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, U. K. ... Di-n-butyltin oxide efficiently catalyses the rearrangement of 3-hydroxy-2-oxocarboxylic acid esters into the corresponding 2-hydroxy-3-oxo-esters, in a reaction that simulates the reversible rearrangement ...