A wide variety of epoxyethers were cleanly rearranged to give a good yield of the corresponding methoxy ketones using magnesium bromide as a catalyst (cf. Table I). The structures of the new epoxyethers were proved by degradation reactions and the methoxy ketones were prepared independently or the structures proved by a second order Beckmann degradation of the corresponding oxime.
![2-methoxy-2-phenyl-1-oxa-spiro[2.5]octane Structure](https://image.chemsrc.com/caspic/244/15817-28-4.png)
![2-Pentanone,3-[1,1'-biphenyl]-4-yl-3-methoxy- Structure](https://image.chemsrc.com/caspic/021/5457-34-1.png)