The 2,3-dlhydrofuran structure is a subunit of interest being widely encountered in various natural products such as clerodlnl and azadlrachtlnZ which embody this highly reactive . entity in furofuran or furopyran systems. This moiety is presumed to be responsible for at least part of the biological .actlvlty of these molecules. Classlcal preparation of substituted 2,3- dihydrofurans such as 1. has, hitherto, generally relied on the flash pyrolysis of the lactol- acetate prepared from ...