Abstract Palladium-catalyzed cyclization-methoxycarbonylation of (2R, 3S)-3-methylpenta-4- yne-1, 2-diol (8) derived from the (2R, 3S)-epoxybutanoate 7 followed by methylation gave the tetrahydro-2-furylidene acetate (–)-9, which was converted into the left-half aldehyde (+)- 4. A Wittig reaction between (+)-4 and the phosphoranylide derived from the bithiazole-type phosphonium iodide 5 using lithium bis (trimethylsilyl) amide afforded (+)-(4R, 5S)- ...